The Golden Truth
by O-Mega Lead
Summary: Isaac always thought he would lead a normal life until one fateful day changed everything. Now, on his mission for The Wise One, Isaac soon discovers that not all things are as simple as he once thought.
1. Chapter One: Memories

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: This chapter's Author's Notes have been updated, but the story is the same. Look for chapter two soon!

A/N: I have realized upon beginning to work on this fiction again and reading "The Angel and the Slayer" that my ideas and the plot line for this story mirror but are not the same, so I do not take credit for the ideas in this story being original. Also, I have decided to use some ideas from TheOneAndOnlyT's ideas, and while it may seem similar, I have made sure to change it so that it is how I envision the series. Finally, I would like to add that I will also have flashbacks to the past, interludes in between events and, I hope, a more complete picture in my story. I also plan to write more than just the first half of the series, so I will get into "The Lost Age," but take it from Isaac's perspective as opposed to Felix. Now, to my story:

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_Isaac rushed to the sanctum after the old couple told him to get Mia, the town healer._

_He had woken up with a bad dream about Jenna being taken away again, and so he decided to go outside for a walk to clear his head. He was passing a house near the inn when he heard someone coughing loudly. Shortly afterwords, an old woman burst out the door and spotted him._

"_Please! Go find Mia!" she begged, "My husband is sick!"_

"_Okay!" Isaac answered and so took off running through the town to the sanctum. When he burst through the sanctum's doors, he saw a beautiful girl with blue eyes and cerulean hair in blue and white robes sitting at the head of the sanctum, surrounded by two kids who seemed to be reading from a book. The girl looked up when she heard the sanctum's door burst open._

"_Can I help you?" she asked in a soft and angelic voice as he approached, slightly out of breath._

"_There's an old couple by the town entrance, they were looking for Mia." Isaac said, looking at the three._

"_Grandma, grandpa! I'm coming!" The blue haired girl quickly stood and ran out of the sanctum with Isaac following behind..._

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Chapter One - Memories

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Isaac sighed as he sat up, watching over the two tents and fire that constituted his new group's campsite. Guarding the campsite had begun on the second night that Isaac and Garet had ventured into the wild. The first night they were attacked by two monsters and were ill-prepared to take them on, having just woken up.

Isaac smiled at the memory; things had sure changed a lot ever since Mercury Lighthouse... Ever since Mia joined their group... When Mia decided to come with them, it was hectic for the first few days. Things have settled down since then, but while being different from how things used to be, Isaac didn't mind her as much as Garet or Ivan seemed to. '_Though they didn't see her when she completely healed the old man and woman from the epidemic,_' Isaac thought.

Generally, the two disliked her joining because she was always shy and only seemed to be and extra mouth to feed. However, they eventually warmed up to her when she healed their wounds after battles with a few particularly difficult monsters, or the time she managed to purge the venom in Garet from when he had fought a poisonous cuttle in Mercury Lighthouse.

Now, the guys are happy that they have a Mercury adept in their group who was particularly good at healing people. Also, while she is a shy healer, she is also a skilled fighter on their team and everyone has grown to count on her.

Isaac looked at the two tents, imagining the people inside. In the green tent were Garet and Ivan. They had that tent ever since the journey began, but they were forced to buy another when Ivan joined their group.

Before Mia, the three used to take turns sleeping alone in the second light blue tent. When she first joined, all of the guys were stuffed together in the green tent because they didn't want to intrude on her privacy. Although after a rough night where the boys barely slept, they decided as a group to allow one person to sleep in the same tent as Mia. With that allowance, however, there were a few obvious rules, such as giving her time alone to change and to respect her privacy at all times.

At first, they had taken turns sharing the tent with Mia, but eventually, things changed. Ivan decided on the second time that he slept in the same tent as Mia that he was uncomfortable with sleeping so close to a female, so he was given permanent residence in the boy's tent. The second incident occurred a few days later when Garet "accidentally" walked in on Mia changing. While he swears it was an accident and while he did not see anything, Mia no longer felt comfortable sharing a tent with him, so that left Isaac.

Another change that happened due to Mia was a more easy guard schedule. Now that there are four people to choose from, they decided split duty up into three shifts and let one person sleep the whole night. This worked out well and allowed everyone to have one night when they wouldn't lose any sleep, helping them out in the long run.

Isaac smiled while looking up at the moon, things were going smoothly now, despite the bumpy beginning. Looking back down at the map that he had purchased in Imil, Isaac saw that they were just about to reach the Bilibin Barricade. At this rate, they would reach the Kolima Forest in no time, letting them continue on with their journey.

Suddenly, Isaac heard a snapping twig behind him. '_Must be another zombie,_' he thought, '_I wonder what's with them? I had to kill two already..._' Hearing the padding sound of feet on grass close behind him, Isaac tensed, and in one movement, swung around while drawing his Elven Rapier from his back sheath, ready to strike.

"Ah!" a familiar voiced yelled in surprise.

Isaac's eyes widened at the cerulean-haired beauty before him, "I'm sorry, I thought you were a zombie," he said, sheathing his rapier and settling back down in front of the fire.

Mia nodded and sat down across from him. "It's okay," she said, giving him a small, teasing smile. "But a zombie, come on, do I really look that bad?"

Isaac smiled back, "No," he answered truthfully, "But... What are you doing out here? It's not even your night to guard."

Mia looked down and stared into the fire, "I just couldn't sleep."

Isaac looked at her and saw a small frown on her face. Getting up, he walked over and sat down next to her, "Mia, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, really. I don't want to burden you with my problems," Mia evaded, looking everywhere but at Isaac.

"Mia," Isaac said, finally calling her attention to him, "If you don't want to tell me, that's okay, but I'll always be here to listen."

A tear fell down Mia's cheek as she turned back to gaze into the flames, "It's just... I feel so useless and weak... I couldn't accomplish the one duty set forth to me by the Mercury Clan... I was betrayed by one of my apprentices... I can't even fight that good compared to you guys..." By now, tears were streaming down Mia's cheeks.

"Mia... It's not like that at all..." Isaac began, putting an arm around her shoulder in comfort. "We all fail sometimes... Me and Garet, we couldn't stop the elemental stars from being stolen by Saturos and Menardi... After that, we were tasked with recovering the stars and stopping tem from lighting the lighthouses, and we messed that one up too. But what matters is that we are still trying, and that we are not helping them light the beacons. And Alex... You can't be responsible for what he does. When he was your apprentice, you always told him to never light the beacons, right?" Mia looked up through tear filed eyes and nodded, "Then he chose to light them himself, against what you taught him to do."

Mia smiled a little, but still felt a little down, '_But he never said I was a good fighter... Maybe he doesn't think so as well..._'

"Mia... You're not a bad fighter either," Isaac said, almost as if reading her mind, "You fought with us whenever we went into battle, and your water Psynergy kicked Saturos all over the aerie!"

Mia giggled a little at the picture, "Thanks, Isaac..."

"No problem," he responded, eventually turning his attention back to the night sky.

"The stars look beautiful tonight," Mia commented after a while. Isaac stiffened as his mind wandered back to another time when he heard someone say that...

_**Flashback**_

"_The stars look beautiful tonight," a feminine voice said to Isaac's right. He was sprawled on the front of his lawn, hanging out with Jenna after training most of the day. Not feeling like talking much, he grunted an affirmative. Jenna giggled, "I can tell you are impressed."_

_Isaac smiled and turned his head to look at the fire adept. She was looking at him and smiling that small smile that he enjoyed seeing on her face and that brightened his day. Slowly, she began leaning towards him while closing her eyes as he slowly closed his own._

"_Hey, Isaac! Jenna! Where are you guys?" Garet's voice suddenly rang out nearby, causing the two to jump apart...._

_**End flashback**_

"Isaac... Isaac?" said boy finally looked over to Mia, who was calling his name. "Isaac, what's wrong?

_**Flashback**_

_Isaac stood atop the Mercury Lighthouse aerie when he suddenly heard Jenna's voice._

"_Isaac! Garet!"_

_Isaac's head whipped over to Jenna, but when he saw her, something was missing. He stood still as he tried to remember back when he was with her in Vale, and it finally hit him, 'I... I don't feel that warm glow I always felt whenever I looked at her anymore...' Time seemed to lapse as Isaac thought about it, but he couldn't think of anything. Suddenly, Saturos came out from behind the lighthouse beacon._

"_Garet, get back!" an angelic voice called as Saturos approached the group. That angelic voice broke Isaac from his reverie and he turned to find the owner of the voice._

'Mia..._'_

_**End flashback**_

"I-it's nothing," Isaac attempted to smile at Mia to put her at ease, but the water adept saw right through it.

"No, there's something wrong... You listened to my problems, let me help you with yours," Mia smiled gently.

Isaac looked at her for a while before seeming to come to a conclusion. Slowly turning his head to gaze upward at the stars once more, Isaac began speaking.

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Ivan woke up with a gentle wind from his djinni Gust. '_Time to start the watch..._' he thought while stretching a bit and grabbing his witch's wand. As he knelt down to open the tent, he heard Isaac speaking softly to someone. Curious, he quietly opened the tent a little and peeked outside.

'_What's Mia doing up..?_'

"... cury Lighthouse, I've been confused... I used to like that girl that we saw on the elevator, but that time that I saw her... I didn't feel anything..." Isaac said.

"... You mean Jenna?" Mia asked slowly, remembering the beautiful girl with scarlet hair and brown eyes.

"Yeah... I used to think that I... loved her... I began this journey not so much to save the world as to save her, but when I saw her on the aerie, I didn't feel anything for her, not like I used to..." Isaac trailed off.

"... I... I haven't had much experience when it comes to relationships... But I think that... what you were feeling... w-wasn't... love..." Mia started off hesitantly, "It sounds more like you had a crush on her, and once you spent time away from her..."

Isaac was silent for a while, pondering Mia's words. Beside him, the water adept fidgeted slightly, thinking she might have said something wrong or to offend him. She was about to say something else when Isaac spoke.

"Is that what you really think?" Isaac asked in a soft voice, his mind seeming to drift into the past as he laid back and looked up at the moon, now halfway up in the sky.

"I-...I don't really know... I think so, but... I have never been in a relationship with anyone before..."

'_Not even Alex?_' Ivan thought, still eavesdropping.

"I just don't really know what to think anymore," Isaac admitted, "Ever si-"

Isaac stopped when he heard movement in the bushes surrounding the campsite.

"I-Isaac? Wh-what is it?" Mia asked nervously as the earth adept stopped talking and turned his head to the bushes behind Mia. That's when he saw them.

"Mia! Run!" He yelled as he scrambled up and unsheathed his Elven Rapier. The frightened girl quickly turned and froze when she saw a band of three ghosts and two zombies coming forward. Coming at her.

The monsters seemed to have finally noticed her and ran forward to attack. Mia couldn't move as they closed in on her and just as closed her eyes to brace for the attack, she heard a grunt in front of her followed by a howl of pain. Isaac had ran in front of her to protect her, but with only his rapier he wasn't able to block all of their attacks. Panting, Isaac swung the blade, sending two zombies flying backwards, only to have the other three monsters fill in. Isaac stood his ground, blocking and parrying the five monsters, holding them back as best he can. Without his shield, it was near impossible to stop all of the hits aimed his way, but he managed to block most of them.

Mia felt like she was frozen in place as she fell to her knees and stared in shock at the blood dripping from Isaac's wounds. Isaac quickly spun and beheaded a ghost that had snuck around to try and attack Mia, but was hit by the other four monsters, causing him to collapse to the ground. He quickly got up and began to attack the remaining four to protect Mia.

'_But... why..?_' She wasn't given much time to wonder as Ivan ran forward with his witch's wand glowing purple with his psynergy.

"_Plasma!_" he called, the spell shooting from the wand, encompassing the three zombies and destroying them. Isaac collapsed after the zombies were destroyed, leaving him open to the last ghost.

Mia finally found her voice as the ghost moved to attack, "ISAAC!"

Ivan quickly turned when he heard Mia's scream and saw the ghost approaching his friend. Acting quickly Ivan sprinted over and jumped up, raising his pulsing wand, "Stun Voltage!"

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Mia watched as Isaac turned around in his sleep, facing her from across the room. After the battle, nobody had asked her any questions which she was grateful for. Instead, she had helped Isaac back into their shared tent and had examined his wounds, managing to heal all of them with Ply. A few hours had passed since then, but she still couldn't fall asleep. '_Why did I freeze up like that? I never had problems when I was fighting alone before, why now?_'

Mia felt tears prick at her eyes as she recalled Isaac getting hurt protecting her, '_Why did this have to happen when I could have helped Isaac?_' She rapidly blinked away the forming tears as she sat up on her bed roll and concentrated, bringing the healing power of the Mercury Clan to her hands, causing them to glow lightly blue. Placing her hands gently on Isaac's back, she whispered out, "_Ply,_" and his body was slowly surrounded by a light blue aura. After a moment, her powers dissipated and she smiled a little, sure that he was now completely healed. Climbing back under the covers, Mia closed her eyes and pushed all of her doubts away, trying to catch a few hours of sleep before sunrise.

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	2. Chapter Two: Nightmare in Mogall Forest

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: I have rewritten major portions of this fic to improve the quality of writing, and I hope that those of you who reread this chapter will approve of the changes.

A/N: I have realized upon beginning to work on this fiction again and reading "The Angel and the Slayer" that my ideas and the plot line for this story mirror but are not the same, so I do not take credit for the ideas in this story being original. Also, I have decided to use some ideas from TheOneAndOnlyT's ideas, and while it may seem similar, I have made sure to change it so that it is how I envision the series. Finally, I would like to add that I will also have flashbacks to the past, interludes in between events and, I hope, a more complete picture in my story. I also plan to write more than just the first half of the series, so I will get into "The Lost Age," but take it from Isaac's perspective as opposed to Felix.

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_Isaac placed his newly found Artic Blade away once they had exited the waterfall. Ever since the time he saw it, Garet had claimed the Orb of Force for himself, having liked the new ability it granted him. Isaac chuckled to himself as he remembered Garet rushing forward and claiming it before anyone even hopped across the water. Afterwards, he kept using it against the walls until Isaac told him to stop because Mia and Ivan were getting headaches with the constant pounding of psynergy._

_Once they left, they visited Master Nyunpa and he explained the proper way to use the Orb, much to everyone's relief. After healing and recharging their psynergy using the small psynergy stone they found near the temple, the group left Fuchin Temple heading into the evil forest that Tret had warned them about..._

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Chapter Two – Nightmare in Mogall Forest

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Garet concentrated at the hollow tree stump that Isaac pointed out to him. His fist glowed red as his fire psynergy was shaped by the Orb of Force he now carried. Talking a step forward, Garet punched out with his fist, "_Force!_" the red psynergy formed into a ghostly fist that shot forward and hit the stump, startling the ape that they were chasing into jumping our and running deeper into the forest.

"This is boring, always following an ape around," Garet complained as he stood up straight again and they followed the ape.

"Well, this is your fault for running into the forest blindly in the first place!" Ivan said. When they first entered, Garet had wanted to get out before nightfall, since he didn't like how the forest looked. After getting stuck going in circles and being lost for three days in the forest, the rest of the group had had enough and forced Garet to use the orb.

"On the bright side, I think we are getting out. The trees are less crowded together than before," Mia commented, always the peacemaker.

'_Even though she isn't saying anything to anybody, she really didn't like this place either. I could tell by how she seemed more withdrawn than usual. She didn't seem to mind the Kolima forest, though Tret did say that this forest was evil,_' Isaac thought as he continued walking besides the object of his thoughts. '_Actually, ever since that night we spent near the Bilibin Barricade she seemed more depressed than usual. I wonder what's bothering her..._"

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"Finally! The exit!" Garet and Ivan both cheered as they rushed past sole tree stump by the exit of the tunnel, Garet sending a force blast its way as he rushed by. Along the way, Garet had shot off many blasts just for fun, but with the excuse of seeing a monster or tree stump near the side of the path. Just as Mia and Isaac passed by the last stump, a loud thumping noise started coming from within the stump.

"It's probably just the last ape we scared off," Isaac said as he turned back around and began walking, that is until he heard a very loud crash and a deafening roar coming from behind him.

Quickly turning, Isaac saw their monster. '_Well... It's a bit bigger than the other ones..._'

Mia quickly stood back with Isaac as the beast continued to roar, a few seconds later joined by Ivan and Garet.

"What the..?" Garet trailed off as he stared at the giant ape.

"Maybe we shouldn't have bothered all of those smaller ones?" Ivan asked as he too stared.

"It's too late for second guessing now, get ready," Isaac took command and unsheathed his arctic blade, pointing it at the monster who seemed to have finished roaring and was now poised to attack. "Here we go..."

The Killer Ape jumped forward and charged everyone while Isaac and Garet stepped forward to face the monster. Raising their weapons, they parried the ape's first strike while Ivan and Mia charged their weapons with psynergy. While Isaac and Garet attacked head on, Ivan and Mia snuck around behind the ape and raised their weapons.

"_Tundra!_" Mia called, swinging her Blessed Ankh towards the ape and freezing its legs in place.

Ivan followed up a few seconds later with an attack of his own, "_Plasma!_"

Much to everyone's dismay, the attack fizzled out when it hit the ape's hairy body.

'_There goes our best psynergy attack,_' Isaac thought while planning their next move. "Garet, try using your heat wave!" Isaac called as he swung his sword at the ape, wounding it slightly in the arm. Isaac forgot about the ape's other arm and was hit from behind, knocking the wind out of him.

The ape raised its hand to strike at Isaac again with his claws when Garet finished his quick charge of the attack, "_Heat Wave!_" he cried, sending a wave of fire out of his hand and engulfing the ape. The attack seemed very effective even though it was weaker since Garet didn't fully charge it, but both Isaac and Garet forgot one important thing when the smoke cleared.

"Uh guys? It's not frozen in pace anymore..." Ivan stated the obvious, regrouping with Isaac and Garet.

"Isaac? Are you okay?" Mia asked as she rushed over to the fallen warrior and knelt down, assessing his wounds.

"I... I'm okay," Isaac got out weakly, "Just a bit out of breath."

Mia smiled as she raised both of her hands, concentrating her psynergy into both, "_Ply!_" Again, Isaac felt the coolness of Mia's aura wash over and engulf him, relieving all of the pain and easing his breathing.

Meanwhile, Ivan and Garet were both taking turns hitting the ape with attacks of their own, covering for their other teammates. "_Whirlwind!_" Ivan called, pointing his wand at the ape and issuing a small tornado at the creature, blowing it back and giving Garet time to charge his psynergy.

"_Flare!_" Garet called, sending the weakest of his attacks at the ape. Ivan gawked at him as the ape brushed off the attack, even though it was weak against fire. Garet looked sheepishly at Ivan, "I'm tapped," he admitted, taking out his Axe. Ivan shook his head and concentrated another spell into his wand as the ape approached a little cautiously in fear of another fire attack.

"_Impact!_" Ivan called, casting the friendly spell on Garet, causing his aura to flare as his attack power increased. Charging forward, Garet swung the axe at the ape, who dodged the blow and jumped up into the surrounding trees before coming back down behind Garet.

"Look out!" Mia called as Garet dumbly turned to be met with the enraged ape's rapid attack. Using its claws filled with psynergetic power, the ape ransacked Garet until he fell to the ground, unmoving.

"Ivan, protect Mia!" Isaac called as he charged forward, swinging his blade at the ape and driving it back into an open field. Quickly infusing his blade with the power of Venus, he swung and slammed the blade into the ground, releasing the power into the earth itself, "_Quake Sphere!_" Suddenly, the ground all around the ape crumbled, preventing the ape from escaping as it tripped and fell. The attack continued, large rocks caused by the quake slammed into the ape while Isaac prepared for another attack. Isaac smiled while feeling his blade pulse in his palms, ready for a finishing blow. Looking at the howling ape in pity, Isaac raised his Artic Blade, "Blizzard!"

Large shards of ice flew out and hit the ape, cutting into its hide and causing the creature to howl in pain. When the earthquake finally stopped and the dust settled, the ape did not move again.

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Ivan sat up for guard duty while Isaac slept and Mia tended Garet's wounds after the battle. Looking back at the dark shadow of the forest against the starry sky, Ivan recalled Isaac's show of power against the ape. '_So that's the new attack that he mastered, the quake sphere,_' Ivan thought, shuddering. '_I haven't learned any new fighting attacks since plasma; my djinn are only teaching me supporting psynergy like impact and sleep... I wouldn't mind using sleep, but it only really works at night and the monsters have to stay still as the psynergy floats down on them..._' Ivan sighed, wondering when he would be taught a newer attack psynergy. He had already asked them to teach him more, but they insisted that he was not yet ready and that he must learn to master his psynergy one step at a time.

Ivan turned to the tents when he head rustling inside one. A few seconds later, Mia lightly stepped outside.

"How's Garet doing?" Ivan asked, catching the water adept's attention.

"He should be fine now, he just needs some rest," she replied with a smile. "Are you okay as well?"

"Yeah, thanks," Ivan responded with a smile before returning his attention back to the forest, "Goodnight, Mia."

"Goodnight." Mia looked out at the woods for a bit before turning and heading back in the tent she shared with Isaac. Once inside she closed the flaps and relaxed in bed, letting the sound of Isaac's steady breathing lure her into sleep.

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_Mia stared up at the pitch black ceiling above her head, unable to make out any of the familiar shapes in the tent. Lying still, she tried to make out any familiar noises, but the silence was deafening. Getting up, she accidentally bumped her head against the tent's top, causing her head to dully throb. Ignoring the slight pain, she felt around blindly for the flaps leading her outside. Finding them after walking forward slowly, she sighed in relief and unzipped them, but the site that greeted her was not what she was expecting._

_Mia saw the smoldering embers of the fire used to light the campsite slowly dieing, and Isaac lying down with his head on a log, seemingly asleep. Frowning at him for not taking their security to heart, she stepped forward and shook him slightly, expecting to wake him up. No matter how hard or long she shook him, however, he remained motionless. Mia tried to think of a logical explanation, '_Ivan just learned to use sleep, maybe he was just trying it out on Isaac,_' she reasoned. Placing two fingers gently on his neck, she felt for a pulse. After not feeling anything for a short while, she slowly backed away, horrified. '_H-he's... He can't be... Not Isaac..._'_

_Refusing to believe that Isaac was dead, Mia quickly turned away from the site and sprinted to the boy's tent to find Garet and Ivan. Opening the tent flap, she rushed inside, only to find the tent empty. Confused, Mia stepped back outside and called out, "Garet! Ivan!"_

_In the distance, she could hear sticks snapping as someone seemed to be running away from the camp. Desperate to find someone, Mia ran into the forest after the noise. After a while she reached a clearing where she saw Ivan fighting a giant ape with Garet on the ground. Running up to the two, she called out, "Ivan!"_

_The young wind adept turned to see Mia, but the ape took the chance and pouring psynergetic energy into its fingernails, ransacked Ivan into the ground. Mia stood frozen, unable to accept what had just happened. Just as she was about to rush forward to heal Ivan, the ape jumped in her way and easily knocked her away. Slowly getting up, Mia saw the ape approaching and quickly stood, blindly sprinting back into the woods._

'I have to get out, I have to find help!_' Mia thought frantically as she sprinted away, the ape following her, seeming to laugh at her distress._

_Deeper into the forest she ran, unable to figure out which was which in the darkness. Mia's legs finally gave out when she reached a large tree somewhere in the forest. Falling to her knees by the tree, Mia tried to slow her breathing and closed her eyes, listening for the sounds signaling the ape's approach. Mia sat still for minutes as she slowly recovered her breathing before finally standing up and trying to find the camp again. '_This is all probably just a bad dream,_' she consoled herself as she spotted a familiar rock in the forest. '_Just a little more..._'_

_Reaching the clearing of where they ad set up camp, Mia looked around to find nobody in the camp. Walking over to the tents, she looked in, hoping and praying that everyone was back inside and that this was only a dream, but nobody was inside. Walking back out of her and Isaac's tent, she froze and gasped. There before her stood Isaac, bruised and bloodied, completely different from when she had thought she had saw him before._

_Walking towards her, Isaac's voice came out as a rasp, "You abandoned us... You left us to fight the ape alone, and now we are all dead."_

"_N-no..." she barely managed to whisper out, "I-I didn't k-know... I-if I knew that you w-were fighting the a-ape, I would have helped!"_

"_No, you wouldn't have, you are a useless coward. You cannot even fight and you failed your clan by sitting back and letting Alex light the beacon. You couldn't even stop your own pupil, how worthless are you?"_

"_B-but y-you said that i-it wasn't m-my f-fault... Y-you said that I w-wasn't a b-bad f-fighter... T-that Alex w-wasn't m-my f-fault..." Mia choked out, tears flowing from her eyes as Isaac closed in on her._

_Isaac's blue eyes locked with hers, not showing the gentleness and kindness she used to always see in them, only showing malice towards her. "You actually believed those lies?" Isaac laughed a humorless laugh, "You really are stupid and worthless!"_

"_N-no... s-stop... p-please..." Mia coked out before fully collapsing to the ground in tears._

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Isaac shook the sobbing girl as she lied, curled up in a ball, "Mia! Mia, wake up! It's just a dream!"

Slowly, Mia's eyes opened, meeting Isaac's. Upon seeing him, she immediately broke down again, mumbling apologies as she curled up tighter, refusing to look at him.

"Mia... Mia! Look at me!" Isaac said, holding onto the frightened girl's shoulders. Slowly she obeyed, looking slowly up, past his body and into his eyes, '_He's not injured?_' Looking into his eyes, Mia once again saw the gentleness and kindness she knew so well, blanketed in concern. "It was only a dream, Mia... Everything's okay now, I won't let anything hurt you..."

Tears still falling, Mia jumped up and hugged Isaac, relief flooding through her. Isaac stood still in shock as she hugged him, but slowly and gently returned the gesture, trying to calm her down. Isaac said nothing, unable to think of anything to say that could help her as she slowly calmed down from the nightmare. '_Whatever it was really shook her..._'

After Mia calmed down, she hastily broke away from Isaac. "I-I'm sorry, I was just b-being silly..." she said, blushing a bit. "I-I'll just go to bed now."

"Mia..." Isaac said slowly, causing the water adept to look back at him, "If you want someone to talk to about it, I'm here, okay?" he offered.

"T-thanks..." Mia smiled, remembering back about the nightmare, '_I can't tell him that I was dreaming about him..._' Mia tried to give him a reassuring smile, but only partially succeeded as she turned back to her bed and pulled up the covers to go back to sleep.

Isaac sighed, but smiled back at her nonetheless. "I'll pull your shift tonight. You spent so much energy healing me and Garet, you need the rest."

"Thanks... Isaac." Mia said as the boy ducked out of the tent. '_Why did I have that dream, and why did it seem so real?_' Mia wondered as she turned around in bed. The rest of the night, as with all of the other nights she had spent with the group since camping at the Bilibin Barricade, was spent sleeping restlessly. She was unable to fully fall asleep as the dream continued to haunt her, only this time the real Isaac was unable to save her.

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	3. Chapter Three: Nightmares Come True

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

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_Isaac laid on top of his roof, staring up at the night sky as he tried to take his mind off of the oppressive heat. Despite the heat, he still had Jenna next to him on the rooftop, tucked in close to his body._

"_It sure is hot..." Isaac stated, looking at the fire adept in his arms._

"_It's not that bad..." Jenna smiled, "I don't mind it,"_

"_That's because you're a fire adept... Lucky..." Isaac playfully said while squeezing her. He loved being around Jenna and never wanted to be separated from her. They had been friends since childhood, but one day a few months ago, they had almost kissed, and they had been hanging out more and have been closer ever since._

"_Yeah, but I wouldn't want you any other way," Jenna said softly, blushing at the phrase, but smiling nonetheless. "I like it that you're an earth adept, everyone else I know is a fire adept," Jenna said, raising her head to look at him, '_You are the only earth adept in the village; everyone else is neutral or a fire adept..._'_

_Isaac smiled up at the girl and slowly she lowered herself to him, their faces only inches apart..._

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Chapter Three – Nightmares Come True

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"I can't stop sweating... I wish I'd bought a change of clothes..." Mia said miserably, though mostly to herself as they marched through the Lamakan Desert. Everybody was hoping to reach Kalay before nightfall, because while during the daytime it was hot, at night the temperature in this evil desert dropped to freezing.

"Stop complaining Mia, it's not that bad!" Garet said, though he only looked slightly better off than the struggling water adept.

"Oh be quiet, Garet, you're a Mars adept, you're less affected by this than Mia is." Ivan said, standing up for Mia. Hoping to avoid further argument and also not get as hot by arguing, Mia dropped back from the group a bit, letting the three boys lead by a ways. Isaac noticed this and dropped back as well.

'_She's been acting a bit off ever since that one night when she had the nightmare..._' Isaac thought, getting a bit worried about their only female traveling companion.

"Are you okay?" Isaac asked when the other two were far enough ahead.

"Oh just great, thanks a lot," Mia snapped, thinking that he was going to make fun of her as well. When Isaac didn't respond, she looked over at him and noticed that true concern for her well being was his motive for asking. Realizing this, Mia blushed lightly, "Sorry... I'll be okay, it's just way hotter than I would like," she said while trying to smile.

Isaac nodded and stopped, putting down his backpack and digging around.

"Here," the earth adept said, tossing her his water pouch, "You probably need it more than I do; the heat isn't affecting me as much."

"Thanks..." Mia said, smiling gratefully before opening the pouch and drinking a little. "I feel better now."

"No problem. If you need something, just ask," Isaac smiled back before facing forward again, "Come on, we should probably catch up with the other guys, we haven't seen any monsters in a while so they are bound to pop up sooner or later."

Just as Isaac finished speaking, a salamander jumped out of the sand, immediately casting a fireball at the two. Quickly putting up his dragon shield, Isaac protected them both while Mia concentrated her newest psynergy onto her Psynergy Rod. As soon as the attack was completed, Isaac lowered the shield and Mia raised her wand, "_Ice Horn!_" the attacking salamander was suddenly showered with jagged ice crystals, each one freezing and piercing it as it struggled to stand up against the barrage. Without waiting for it to recover, Isaac pulled out his Arctic Blade and finished the salamander before the ice horns that were piercing the salamander in place were melted.

Mia collapsed, panting and sweating after firing her attack. "This is... why... I don't use... my psynergy... to cool us down..." Mia gave Isaac a small smile as she pulled out the water bottle again.

'_Her smile is beautiful... I wish she would smile more often..._' Isaac thought, smiling back at the water adept. '_Wow... the heat must really be getting to me... But her smile is nice..._'

Mia stood and Isaac turned, leading the way to where he thought Ivan and Garet were walking.

"Those two sure bicker a lot..." Mia commented as they crested a sand dune and spotted Ivan and Garet seemingly in a heated argument.

"Yeah, they sure argue enough, but when it comes down to it, they always support each other." Isaac observed, remembering quite a few times when they were fighting and one came to the others rescue.

"What do you think they are fighting over though?" Mia asked as they drew nearer.

"I have no clue..."

* * *

After running through the sands and over a few sandfalls, they finally reached a dead end.

"This is great!" Garet shouted, the heat beginning to take its toll, "Now we are stuck in a dead end in the middle of the desert with nowhere else to go!"

Isaac squatted as he observed the terrain. '_Something about that sandfall strikes me as false..._'

"Ivan, cast reveal over there by the sandfall," Isaac suggested, hoping he was right. Ivan cast reveal but what he saw made him jump backwards in fright.

"Guys... there.... there's a Magicore blocking our escape..." Ivan said slowly as he continued to stare at the sandfall.

"Let me see, it's probably..." Garet trailed off after having touched Ivan's hand. "Yeah... Guys... we have problems."

Isaac and Mia stepped forward at the same time that the sandfall erupted forward, temporarily blinding the group as a deafening roar filled the air.

"Spread out!" Isaac called as he unsheathed his blade. "Mia, try casting your ice horn! Ivan, go for a storm ray!"

The two adepts nodded as they charged their psynergy while Isaac took out Flint. "Ready to battle?" Isaac asked the brown djinni.

"_I am ready whenever Master Isaac calls!"_ Flint responded, speaking to Isaac through his thoughts.

"Then let's go!" Isaac yelled while running forward and jumping up, holding Flint high up in the air. As he was coming down, Isaac swung Flint and connected with the Magicore, causing it to roar in pain as part of its front arm split open.

In retaliation, it raised its tail and shot out a green psynergy bolt at it's attacker. Unprepared for the attack, it hit Isaac square in the chest and knocked him back to the sand. Isaac struggled to get up, but the more he moved, the more he felt his energy drain away. '_Crap, it has a poisoned tail..._' Isaac thought as he dropped back down into the sand. Despite the heat of the desert, he began feeling oddly cold. '_This is... not... good..._' were Isaac's last thoughts as he fell unconscious.

Seeing Isaac get hit by the Magicore's attack had scared Mia a bit, but not enough to stop casting, "_Ice Horn!_" she called, the attack hitting the Magicore with deadly precision, but Mia didn't pay attention as she ran over to where Isaac was. At the same time, Garet yelled out as Isaac fell, charging the Magicore who managed to dodge the hastily aimed attack. Drawing his axe and feeling it pulse in his hands, he called to Ivan, "Now!" The wind mage heard the command and released his storm ray, the attack stunning the Magicore temporarily with its power, but not before the beast threw out an energy orb, missing Garet by inches and exploding behind him. Garet took the chance and leapt, the axe's head glowing red as Garet swung down on the beast, "Barrage!" The energy exploded, the axe magnifying the Mars power and blasting the Magicore back into the wall, pinning its tail temporarily. Taking charge, Garet regrouped with Ivan as the Magicore got up and counterattacked.

Before Mia reached Isaac's struggling form, a bright ball of light suddenly appeared before her. Before she could even think of dodging the ball, it detonated, sending her flying backwards and causing he to hit her head against the stone wall opposite of the Magicore.

Mia slowly staggered to her feet and tried to get her bearings, though her movements and thoughts were sluggish. Looking around, she saw that Ivan was running around and shooting off storm rays whenever he got the chance. Garet was attacking the Magicore with his Vulcan Axe, but none of hit attacks with the axe or his psynergy seemed particularly effective. Turning her head from the main battle, she searched out and found Isaac struggling to prop himself up, but he suddenly collapsed against the ground again. '_Isaac... I have to finish this quickly so I can tend his wounds..._' she thought as she healed herself as best she could while charging up her staff with more psynergy. Rushing back into the battle, Mia showed no mercy to the Magicore and proved to Ivan and Garet how fierce she could be.

* * *

"Wow Mia, you should fight like that more often," Isaac heard Ivan say from somewhere in the room.

"Yeah, remind me never to get on your bad side," Garet said.

"Really guys, it was just to help out Isaac... Now look after him, I need to go buy some more antidote to make sure the poison is completely purged from him."

Isaac head a door open and then close again, followed by Ivan whistling.

"I never would have thought she could fight like that, did you see the strength of those attacks?"

"Yeah," Garet responded, "And when I mean never get on her bad side, I mean don't do anything to Isaac..."

* * *

Mia frowned slightly as she picked out the herbs she would need for the antidote. She had already did her best to heal Isaac, but she needed an excuse to get out of the room, unable to handle seeing Isaac in that condition. She was still tired from using all of that psynergy in the battle and from trying to heal Isaac completely. '_But why did I lose my calm like that?_' she wondered, the image of Isaac falling down and not being able to get up filled her head again and suddenly she no longer felt tired. '_There must be something wrong with me..._'

After paying for the herbs and leaving the general store, Mia detoured to the water fountains right outside of Hammet Palace. Sitting down near the edge, she enjoyed being around her natural element after having been in the Lamakan Desert for what seemed like eternity.

'_But why am I acting like this?_' she wondered, staring at the slowly moving water, '_I don't want him to get hurt... But I don't want Ivan and Garet to get hurt either... But why does it bother me so much more when I see Isaac get hurt?_'

"Mia? What's the matter?" a voice asked behind the girl. Turning, Mia saw Lady Layana standing next to her in the moonlight.

"N-nothing, my lady," Mia said, smiling up at the queen, '_Why is she wearing common robes?_'

"It's alright Mia," the queen said, kneeling down by her, "I get tired of always being looked after and taken care of sometimes... I would appreciate it if you would treat me as a normal woman for once.

"O-okay..." Mia said uncertainly.

"I know there is something troubling you; I've seen that look before... Who is the lucky guy?" Layana asked while giving Mia a knowing smile, "Don't worry, I won't say a thing."

Mia blushed and looked away, but slowly responded, "Y-you remember the boy we talked about when the three of us visited you before?"

"Yes... I think his name was Isaac?" the queen remembered back when Ivan, Garet and Mia had visited the palace. They said their leader was resting in bed and couldn't come.

"Well... He was attacked and stung by a Magicore when we were fighting to leave the Lamakan Desert... and... I don't know..." Mia trailed off, still unsure if she wanted to tell Layana everything.

"It hurt you to see him stung?" Mia's head turned quickly to Layana as the queen gazed out at the fountain, "I know because I felt that way before, and even now..." Layana trailed off before continuing, "You like him," she said simply.

"What? N-no! I mean... I do as a friend bu-"

"You like him, Mia," Layana cut her off, "I knew that look on your face for I wore it once... You like him."

Mia wanted to deny it, but Layana's voice left no room for argument, so Mia only blushed and looked away.

"It's okay to like someone, Mia... You don't have to be ashamed," Layana smiled at the girl that reminded her of herself when she was younger.

"It's just... h-how will I know?" Mia stammered out, her face still bright red.

"If he likes you back?" Layana asked. Mia nodded, "Only time will tell, but you should look for signs that he cares."

"But how can I tell?" Mia asked. Layana looked confused, so Mia continued, "He... He is nice to everyone in the group and I'm the only girl... How am I supposed to tell that he is doing something because he likes me, not just because he is nice?"

"Trust me Mia... When he does, you'll know," Layana smiled. Standing up, she frowned a little, "I should return, the people at the castle are probably wondering where their queen went..."

"Goodbye, my lady," Mia said softly, still taking in what the queen told her.

"Goodbye, Mia. If you need any more help, feel free to ask the queen, I'm sure she won't mind," Layana winked before turning back to the palace.

"Th-thank you..." Mia said quietly, unsure if the queen had heard her or not. Mia sat at the fountain a long time before finally deciding to get up and heading back to the inn. '_What she said... It makes sense, but... Do I really like Isaac?_'

Mia shook her head as she stood, she already knew the answer, '_Yes... But who wouldn't?_'

Mia turned and began walking back to the inn. Before she reached the steps leading down, she turned, '_But... does he like me too?_'

* * *

The next morning, Isaac finally woke up and they continued on, heading for the Kalay Docks. On their way to the docks, they passed a tour group with a few warriors in it who were also going to Tolbi. Once they reached the docks, they went inside the ticket building and bought tickets for 600 gold pieces. Luckily for them, they had fought a group of undeads who had a lot of gold with them, probably from some travelers who had dropped everything and ran.

Ivan frowned as he handed away the coins, "We are down to 132 coins..."

Garet groaned, "That's not enough for an inn at Tolbi..."

Isaac laughed a little, startling the others. When they looked at him, he just shrugged, "The inns are probably all full already, I doubt we could get in at any price."

Everyone sighed at that, "I don't mind sleeping in the tents as much..." Mia said softly, causing everyone to look at her strangely. "I-I just mean that I guess I've gotten used to it is all," she quickly answered. Ivan and Garet still looked at her strangely, but Isaac gave her an understanding smile.

When they left Mercury Lighthouse, Mia could never fall to sleep. Isaac was worried about her, so after they settled down in their usual sleeping arrangements, he offered her his sleeping roll. Being an earth adept, he could make the ground he slept on softer even while he was asleep, as long as he stayed on it. Because of that, he didn't mind giving Mia his roll so she would be more comfortable, even though it was still a far cry from the bed she had at Imil. Mia was grateful and the extra padding had helped a lot, though she was hesitant to take it and forced Isaac to take her cloak to cover himself with. He also didn't mind it because while he woke up feeling drained for the first few days afterwards, he noticed his psynergy getting stronger the more often he slept like that. After a few weeks, he didn't even feel drained after spending a whole night sleeping while slowly using his psynergy.

Mia smiled back, thinking she understood what he was thinking, '_It's not just because the bed is softer anymore though... Being by him... just feels... right._'

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A/N: I am considering doing previews of the next chapter or upcoming events. If you have an opinion, I would be glad to hear it, but note that just because a majority votes dosn't mean majority rules.


	4. Chapter Four: Sailing the Karagol

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: This is the big chapter, and currently one of my favorites. I plan on developing Summoning a lot later on in the second half of the story, so if you like this chapter, look forward to future updates containing summoning.

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_Isaac sat alone outside on guard duty. Anybody seeing him would have thought he had fallen asleep, but Isaac was even more aware of his surroundings than usual as he talked with his djinn._

"So, the more of you I use, the more powerful the attack?_"_ _Isaac asked inside of his head._

"Yes, Master,_"_ _Flint responded, the other djinn around him nodding._

"How powerful can these summons get?_"_

"There are four levels. At your current psynergy level, you can only use level three summons. Ivan and Garet can use level two, and Mia can still only use level one._"_ _Flint said._

"How do you know what level we can use?_"_

"We can tell by the strength of your psynergy and spirit. Summoning is dangerous for lower levels because once you call an elemental spirit, the summon must be completed. If you do not have enough psynergy, it will draw on your life-force to finish casting, and if it draws too much, your spirit will break._"_ _Granite spoke this time._

"So... You can use all of the four levels?_"_ _Isaac asked, still curious but more solemn._

"Yes, you can use all of the levels, but you can only safely use level three. If you used a level four, you would most likely end up hurting your friends with the attack as well... Since it would draw on your life spirit, the shield that would normally protect you all would shrink and only cover you to use less energy. While it might save you, your friends would get hit by the attack as well._"_ _Flint answered again._

_Isaac nodded,_ _"_And what happens if I use more than four of you?_"_

"The attack would grow greatly in power for each one, but it would draw even more of your power..._"_

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Chapter Four – Sailing the Karagol

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After setting sail, Isaac and the others relaxed in the cabins they were given as the ship's protectors. Since they didn't have a lot of spare rooms, they were only given two. While this wasn't uncommon in the group, the people on the ship would find it highly inappropriate for a guy to share a room with Mia, so Isaac, Garet and Ivan were all stuck in one room.

"Well this sucks," Garet said, while falling back into his bed, "Now it's crowded again,"

"Relax, Garet. Once we are back on land, Isaac and Mia can share a tent again..." Ivan trailed off suggestively as he flopped down on his own bed, looking at the earth adept who was laying on the ground.

"Yeah, Isaac, what do you two lovebirds do in there?" Garet asked suggestively, causing Isaac to blush a bit.

"Nothing!" Isaac was quick to defend Mia's honor, "But what about you two? Why do we sometimes hear strange noises from your tent?"

This caused Garet's face to contort in disgust, causing Isaac to laugh. "We don't do anything like tha-"

"Monsters!" somebody called above deck, cutting Garet off. Immediately, the three stopped joking and jumped out of their beds, racing to the oarsmen. By the time they reached the oarsmen, however, one was already knocked unconscious.

"Isaac, attack those monsters!" Isaac nodded and stepped forward with the others to attack.

* * *

Two battles later and with a total of three replacement rowers, the ship was again underway.

"What's with all of the monsters attacking us?" Mia wondered as the four sat around on the beds in the boy's room.

"Yeah, and evil forest, an evil desert and now and evil sea?" Ivan asked.

"Back!" Garet called, walking into the room.

"So who'd you pick this time?" Isaac asked.

"One of those Merchant guys," Garet said, "He looked strong enough."

Isaac and Ivan shook their heads at him while Mia giggled a little behind her hand.

"What?" Garet asked, looking in between his friends.

"Nothing Garet," Ivan smiled, remembering his teammate's other odd choices. He had first chosen two ladies, an old guy then his most current choice, one of the tour guides. Giving up on finding out, Garet walked past them and when the back of his head was showing, everybody burst out laughing.

"What!?" Garet asked again, this time determined to get an answer. Mia gently strolled over while still giggling and pulled the sea kelp out of his hair. "Where the heck did that come from?" Garet asked, rubbing the back of his head, trying to dislodge anything else that managed to get stuck in his hair.

"That last Man 'o War we fought... Remember when you charged him at the end?" Isaac asked while Ivan and Mia giggled again.

Just as Garet was about to speak, the boat began to rock violently as if it was under attack again. Running to the oarsmen, they thought they made it before the monsters came below.

Just as they were wondering what was going on, Kaja came down, "Isaac, we need your help!"

Isaac and the others ran up the stairs and out onto the deck, finding Sean knocked unconscious. After a deafening roar, Ouranos fell down after him. Everyone looked back and faced the new enemy.

"What _is_ that?" Garet asked.

"I've heard of something like it before... I believe it is a Kraken." Ivan responded while slowly puling out his Psynergy Rod.

"Whatever it is, we have to defeat it is we are going anywhere," Isaac said, "Let's go!"

Everyone nodded and approached the beast, preparing for a long fight.

* * *

"It's healing itself again!" Mia called as she herself cast her newest healing spell on the group while standing slightly behind the others, "_Wish!_" Her aura flashed out and engulfed her other three companions, healing everyone as the Kraken swung out its tentacle.

Ivan saw it coming and quickly dodged, "_Storm Ray!_" he called, sending out a strong ray of lightning and frying the Kraken again.

On the other side of the Kraken, Isaac jumped and dodged the tentacles while using his djinn to attack, "Flint!" Just as Isaac was about to unleash Flint, he heard Mia scream. Looking over, he froze when he saw the Kraken's tentacle glow purple with its psynergy and seem to target Mia relentlessly. "Mia!" Isaac called as he saw another tentacle come out and trip her while the one glowing with psynergy lashed out and struck her, throwing her down to the deck below. Isaac ran after her, trusting Garet and Ivan to hold off the Kraken. When he reached Mia, she was still on the ground. Quickly, Isaac concentrated his psynergy into his palms until they burned with a golden hue, then placed them on Mia, "_Cure Well!_"

Mia coughed up a bit of blood as her wounds were healed, but otherwise did not wake back up. Anger burned in Isaac even though he knew she was still alive and would be okay. As he worked to heal her fully, anger started taking over him, causing him to think irrationally. Despite the drain on his psynergy, the sight of Mia hurt made it feel as if he had only cast a single cure spell. Looking back, Isaac watched as Ivan and Garet attacked again, but the Kraken's tentacles blocked their attacks as it healed itself again. The Kraken roared, sending its tentacles out and striking Ivan and Garet as they tried to dodge.

His anger getting the better of him, Isaac slowly stood up and, not caring that they were on a ship, slowly raised his hands. Closing his eyes, he called his djinn out. He felt himself weaken as each djinni detached itself from him and surrounded him. When all of them were surrounding him, he focused on them, telling them what he wanted them to do.

"_But master! You are still not ready to summon the fourth level! You'll hurt your friends and sink the ship!_" Flint squawked in his head, trying to make Isaac see reason, but reason had left Isaac's mind long ago from seeing Mia cough up blood.

"_You once said that you would do whatever I command you to do, did you not?_" Isaac thought, a moment of clarity falling on him.

"_Y...Yes, master..._" Flint hesitantly agreed. "_We will do as you request._"

Isaac gave Flint the equivalent of a mental smile before anger overcame him again when he heard the Kraken's roar. Opening his eyes, Isaac saw his djinn form a circle around him and start spinning. As they spun faster, they began to glow with a psynergetic light, the light getting brighter the faster they spun. '_I have only summoned once before, but that was only with Flint..._' Isaac thought as the djinn continued spinning, forming what looked like a lens made of pure Venus power in the middle of the djinn circle. '_Back then, I reflected my power through flint himself to summon, but now..._' Isaac looked on as the lens completed and the djinn pulsed, waiting for him to begin. Quickly, Isaac focused on them and asked, _"What is the name of the summon?"_

"_Judgment, master."_

Isaac smiled slightly, '_How fitting..._' he thought as his anger peaked and he raised his head...

* * *

Mia groaned as she slowly opened her eyes only to close them again, '_What's that bright light?_' she wondered. Slowly cracking her eyes open, her mind slowly registered Isaac. '_What's he doing?_' Looking further up, Mia saw what appeared to be Isaac's djinn spinning around above him. '_Isaac..?_'

The djinn spun faster and faster as they rose slowly until they were floating slightly above Isaac. Between the djinn, Mia saw a giant disk of Venus energy form, something she had never seen happen before, having only seen single djinni summons. As the lens completed, she saw the djinn begin to pulse slowly, signaling that they were ready. Raising his head, Isaac called upon Venus's ultimate power.

"_Come!_" Isaac shouted, the voices of his djinn calling with him, deafening everyone aboard and resounding over the ocean, "_JUDGMENT!_"

At Isaac's cry, he felt a great power rise from his chest and shoot through his outstretched arms to his djinn. The djinn glowed brighter as they amplified Isaac's power and shot a golden beam into the heavens.

Slowly, a warrior clad in armor descended from the skies where the beam broke through the clouds that had gathered. Once he was completely visible, the light from the beam bent back down, creating a dome around Isaac that slowly expanding outwards and encompassed the ship while keeping the Kraken stuck on the outside. Once the field was in place, the warrior pointed his right hand downward and a blue sphere grew in his palm. Once the sphere was the size of his hand, it was launched downward at an incredible speed off to the side of the ship. Isaac watched the ball of energy descend slowly with awe even as he felt his strength waning. Bringing the picture of Mia back to the front of his mind, his anger rose, giving him strength, strength enough to hold the barrier for a while longer...

The blue and white ball seemed to gently fall from the sky because of how high up the warrior was. As the group watched it get lower, it seemed to pick up speed until the moment it touched the sea where it exploded outward, washing over everything and blinding everyone with bright white and blue light. When the attack ended, the Kraken was no longer anywhere to be seen. Isaac was drained after expending all of his energy to summon and he collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily. Shortly afterwords, he felt a wave of earth psynergy flow into him as well as his djinn reattaching themselves to him, revitalizing his power completely.

When he regained his breath, he crawled over to check on Mia. He was shocked to find Mia's eyes open and staring at him.

"Mi-"

"Why?" Mia asked in a small voice before Isaac could finish.

"Why what?"

"Why did you use that attack?" the question caught Isaac off guard.

"Because the Kraken hurt y-everyone and I wanted to end it," Isaac caught himself, his cheeks turning a slight pink, though he tried to control it.

Mia nodded, knowing he wasn't saying something but she was too tired to care or find out. Certain of her safety now that Isaac was with her, she slowly fell asleep. Ivan and Garet rushed over to Isaac as he picked up Mia and began walking to their rooms.

"That was _amazing_!" Ivan said, staring at Isaac with awe, "What kind of psynergy was that?"

"It was a summon," Isaac answered, walking down the stairs.

"How do you do it?"

"I can't explain... If you are ready, your djinn will teach it to you," Isaac said, walking into Mia's room and closing the door.

Ivan was going to protest, demanding that Isaac tell him, but Garet put a hand on his shoulder, "Let him take care of Mia, he is the only one now that can heal people. Besides, we have to check up on the oarsmen."

Ivan reluctantly nodded and followed Garet down.

* * *

After sailing for what seemed like hours, Isaac finally fell asleep while watching over Mia. A few hours later, the ship came to a stop off the coast of an island. The sudden stopping of the ship woke up Mia. As she slowly came to, she noticed she was on a bed. '_Where am I? The last thing I remember was getting knocked down by the Kraken and... Isaac!_' Mia's eyes snapped open, letting her see the dark room, '_What was that power?_'

"_It was a summon, Lady Mia,"_ Fizz spoke into her mind.

"_Where did he get they power to summon?"_ Mia asked, remembering the enormous ray of psynergetic light that had summoned the warrior. _"And who was that warrior that Isaac summoned?"_

"_He got the power form his djinn, and because his psynergy reached the level where he could sustain the summoning beam long enough to complete the summon and then create and retain the shield to protect you."_ Fizz answered at length, _"The warrior was the general of Venus's army."_

"_How much psynergy does it take do a summon?"_

"_It is different for the different levels of power you summon, but Isaac summoned a level four. That requires a tremendous amount of psynergy,"_ Fizz explained, _"He should not have been able to summon Judgment at his current level, at least not summon it and live."_

Mia was about to ask another question when movement at the side of her bed drew her attention. Looking over, she saw a familiar blond head peeking out from the edge. Mia smiled, instantly forgetting about what Fizz said as she gently got up and covered Isaac with a blanket. Leaving the room, Mia stopped by the doorway and looked back at Isaac, _"Because the Kraken hurt y-everyone..."_

"Because the Kraken hurt you..."

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A/N: So, What did you think of the summon? Should I devote more time to it or make it a lesser part of the story?


	5. Chapter Five: The Unknown Island

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

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_The blue and white ball seemed to gently fall from the sky because of how high up the warrior was. As the group watched it get lower, it seemed to pick up speed until the moment it touched the sea where it exploded outward, washing over everything and blinding everyone with bright white and blue light. When the attack ended, the Kraken was no longer anywhere to be seen._

* * *

_Mia was about to ask another question when movement at the side of her bed drew her attention. Looking over, she saw a familiar blond head peeking out from the edge. Mia smiled, instantly forgetting about what Fizz said as she gently got up and covered Isaac with a blanket. Leaving the room, Mia stopped by the doorway and looked back at Isaac, _"Because the Kraken hurt y-everyone..."

"_Because the Kraken hurt you..."_

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"_Jenna... No..." Isaac said in his sleep. Mia looked at the boy worriedly as he tossed and turned, sitting next to her bed in her room aboard the ship. "Jenna..."_

_Placing her hands gently on Isaac's head, she slowly concentrated, bringing her healing psynergy into her hands and using it on Isaac. Slowly, he calmed down, but before he fell fully back to sleep, he smiled at the scarlet haired girl in his dreams, "I love you..."_

_Mia froze in shock at what she heard. Shaking her head, she slowly removed her hands, lying back down in her bed. Unable to control herself, a tear fell from her eye as she watched Isaac, '_Does he still love her?_'_

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Chapter Five – The Unknown Island

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Isaac woke up feeling well-rested and relaxed. Opening his eyes, he first noticed that he was covered by a blanket from his position at the side of Mia's bed. The second thing he notices was, "Mia?"

Standing up and stretching quickly, Isaac walked to the ship's deck where everyone seemed to have gathered. Finally spotting his friends, he walked over and noticed that the captain was talking to them.

"Ahh, Isaac, you are awake." The ship's captain said as Isaac reached the rest of his group. Garet and Ivan smiled and greeted him while Mia smiled and blushed a little. "As I was saying, we need you guys to go out and make sure that the island is safe and that there are no monsters there."

"Why do we have to do it again?" Garet asked as much for Isaac's sake as for trying to understand the captain's reasoning.

"Because it's an uncharted island and we want to make sure that nothing will attack the passengers or this boat." The captain repeated himself.

"We'll do it," Isaac said with a grin. While the captain thanked him, Garet looked at him as if he was nuts while Ivan and Mia were just curious. "What? I wouldn't mind exploring an uncharted island, would you?"

After considering a moment, the group agreed and they disembarked the boat, heading to explore the island.

* * *

"We have been walking for quite a while and there are no monsters here..." Ivan said after they walked around the outskirts of the island. "Well, I say we should head back."

"No, not yet," Isaac said, catching something shiny out of the corner of his eye. "Over there!"

The group turned and headed to the face of the mountain cliff and after passing through some thick foliage, they saw what caught Isaac's attention: an open chest. Walking to the other side of the clearing, they saw a tunnel entrance blocked by a fallen tree. To the left of the entrance there was a small patch of ivy.

Isaac smiled a bit before he walked over and concentrated while lowering his hand to the ivy, "_Growth!_" In seconds, the plant sprung to life and climbed the cliff face to the top. "Come on, let's go!" Isaac called as he climbed up the plant. Sliding down the cliff face, he reached the tunnel entrance. After the others joined him, he ventured inside the dark cavern.

Garet created a fireball in his hand when the cavern got too dark, but when he did, he did not like what he saw. The path ahead narrowed a bit with once side having a rock face and the other leading down to what seemed like a bottomless pit.

"Should we go on?" Isaac asked once they reached the end of the passage which lead to a flight of stairs going down. After everyone nodded, they all went down until they were met with a door with a pathway leading down being blocked by a stone pillar.

Isaac tried to open the door, but to no avail. Once he stepped back before trying to open the door again, however, a loud click was heard from the door...

* * *

After defeating the guardian monsters, the doors opened, revealing a room with no real floor other than small platforms leading all over and around the room. The team explored the room, checking all over and opening all of the chests they found. After they finished exploring, they reached the other side of the room. Leaving the room, Isaac looked around and spotted the pillar he saw before. He pushed the pillar down into a crevice, allowing them to return back to the surface before turning, only to see the heads of Garet and Ivan disappearing below the stairs.

"Come on, Isaac!" Mia called, waving back at him to hurry. Running up to her they walked down just in time to hear the click preceding the next monster attack.

"Here we go again..."

Passing through the pillar push puzzle and clearing the room of all treasure just like the last one, the group was grinning from all of the items they were getting. Continuing on, they beat the monsters on the third level and entered the room. They were surprised to find that it looked like the first room. After poking around, however, they noticed keys and locked doors instead of chests. After jumping around for a while, they finally found the last key by using reveal.

After exiting the room, Isaac turned to the others, "Do you think that the people who built this place are adepts?" He asked, even as he pushed the pillar and walked down to the next level. "Even though the first two levels didn't really need psynergy, these guardians are getting stronger and we needed reveal for this last level..."

"Who cares?" Garet asked as he walked past Isaac and pushed against the door.

"I'm just saying, we should be careful..." Isaac clarified as the next group of monsters jumped out. Upon entering the last room, everyone stopped, letting their eyes adjust to the lower level lighting. As Isaac moved to the side of a statue, it followed him. Trying to walk around it, it jumped in front of him again. Walking back and forth, he could not get past the statue. That's when he had an idea. Walking to the far side again, he concentrated on the gem he got from the cave in Vale, "_Halt!_" The psynergy held the statue in place and he got one item, but no matter what he did to the other statues, he could not get any farther. After the whole group gave up, they left the room disappointed, but still happy with the items they had managed to find, especially the new Mystery Blade.

* * *

Upon reaching the surface again, the group collectively breathed a sigh of relief. They walked back to the boat and when they finally reached it, the captain was already looking for them.

"It's about time you guys came back, now let's continue to Tolbi. If we hurry, we can still make it to Colosso." The captain said, pointing Isaac and his friends back below decks.

Heading back to their rooms, the group rested from their exploration. Mia enjoyed the time, using it to think back on what they had accomplished today. Being back on the boat, however, brought back images of Isaac back to her mind.

_**Flashback**_

"_Because the Kraken hurt y-everyone and I wanted to end it," Isaac caught himself, his cheeks turning a slight pink, though Isaac tried to control it._

_Mia nodded, knowing he wasn't saying something but she was too tired to care or find out. Certain of her safety now that Isaac was with her, she slowly fell asleep._

_**End Flashback**_

Those thoughts had been plaguing her ever since she had woken up after the Kraken was defeated. Mia was confused as to why Isaac would do so much for her just because she was injured. '_Back in my village, I was never anything special. My gifts made me well known, but I never really considered myself as beautiful... The boys in the village never came by to talk to me other then when they were injured; they also seemed to treat me as an outsider... Why would Isaac be interested in me? Especially when he has Jenna... He can't..._' Mia thought. Try as she might though, the image of him after the summoning, staring her in the eyes, still lingered in her mind. '_I wish that I knew what he thought of me, knew if he liked me or not..._'

_**Flashback**_

"_Ivan, protect Mia!" Isaac called as he charged forward, swinging his blade at the ape and driving it back into an open field._

"_Come on, do I really look that bad?" Mia asked, smiling at Isaac._

_Isaac smiled back, "No," he answered truthfully._

"_Mia... It's not like that at all..." Isaac said, walking over and sitting down next to her, hesitantly putting his arm around her for comfort. "You're not a bad fighter either."_

_Isaac quickly spun and beheaded a ghost that had snuck around to try and attack Mia, but was hit by the other four monsters, knocking him to the ground. He quickly got up again and began to attack the remaining four to protect Mia. _

_**End Flashback**_

Mia smiled as she recalled some of the times that Isaac had showed he cared for her, '_But he is such a nice person... He cares about everyone in our group. Besides, he wouldn't want me so long as he is thinking of Jenna..._'

_**Flashback**_

"_Ever since Mercury Lighthouse, I've been confused... I used to like that girl that we saw on the elevator, but that time that I saw her... I didn't feel anything..." Isaac said._

"_... You mean Jenna?" I asked slowly, remembering the beautiful girl with scarlet hair and brown eyes._

"_Yeah... I used to think that I... loved her... I began this journey not so much to save the world as to save her, but when I saw her on the aerie, I didn't feel anything for her, not like I used to..." Isaac trailed off._

_**End Flashback**_

Mia's eyes widened, the memory from what seemed like so long ago, back when she was happy having just met Isaac and being his friend. '_But, did he really mean it, or... Does he still love her?_'

Mia sighed, getting tired of wondering without a clear answer. '_All that matters to me is that I care about him... a lot... and I hope he cares for me too._'

* * *

Isaac awoke with a start when there was a knock on the door. "Isaac, Garet, Ivan! The boat has docked. Thank you for looking after our crew!" the captain said through the door. Isaac smiled slightly when he heard Garet and Ivan groan about getting up. They were the only two who were not morning people in the group. While they didn't complain about doing guard duty, they still complained constantly about getting up.

"Come on, let's explore the city!" Isaac grinned, ready to see Kalay.

A short trip after disembarking the boat for the last time, the group finally reached Kalay. The group immediately went to the stores to sell and buy new items, especially weapons and armor for everyone. Not finding any good weapons or armor, they split up and searched the city in pairs. Isaac and Mia slowly walked through the city, exploring different areas. Walking up a flight of stairs, they entered a room where there was a slot machine.

"Care to use your tickets to win some prizes?" the lady behind the counter asked.

"Sure," Isaac said, pulling out the tickets they had saved since the journey began.

* * *

Garet and Ivan watched as Isaac and Mia entered the game room on top of the building.

"They are meant for each other..." Ivan said, seeing them smile at each other in front of the counter.

"Yeah, but only we see it." Garet agreed. "Wait a second..."

"What?"

"Look over there to the right of the building they just went in!" Garet said, grinning widely.

"A Mars djinni?" Ivan asked, surprised at their find.

"Let's get him!" Garet said, not waiting for Ivan as he rushed over to the cliff.

* * *

"That's three pairs of hyper boots, one pair of quick boots, two mithril shirts, a runner's shirt, a silk shirt and an adept's ring." Mia listed off as Isaac handed the lady behind the counter another ticket. "Try to get another pair of hyper boots and two mithril shirts," Mia said, "They provide the best protection."

"Got it," Isaac said, concentrating on the machine before him then pulling the lever. "Boots... Moon... Moon... Boots... Boots!" Isaac cheered as he managed to stop all of the wheels on the right spot. The machine dinged and the attendant gave Isaac another pair of hyper boots.

"You have five more tickets, sir, would you like to continue?" the attendant asked.

"Yes!" Isaac said happily, inwardly glad that he was able to show off to Mia.

Near sundown, the group met at the town gates and shared stories of their adventures as they left the crowded city to camp along the town's outskirts.

"We won all of these," Mia said, showing off her healing ring and Isaac, his Adept's ring. She also pulled out the other two pairs of hyper boots and mithril shirts they had won. "We also made a lot of money from selling different pairs of boots, shirts and rings that we got along with these." Mia explained, "We now have 324 coins!"

"Yeah, but we still have to sleep out here, there's no room in the inns!" Ivan complained, having to stay up for the first watch.

"Well, guess what we found," Garet said while smiling.

"A Mars djinni?" Isaac asked nonchalantly, smiling at Mia.

"Ye- wait, how did you know?" Garet demanded.

"Well, I saw a djinni on our way into the game room, and I didn't see it on the way out... I assumed that you guys caught it." Isaac said, smiling at the two.

Garet frowned at Isaac as he pulled out a tent. "Congratulations, Garet." Mia said, causing Garet to smile slightly despite his disappointment.

"Come on, let's get to sleep, we are going to travel again tomorrow." Isaac said as he allowed Mia into the tent that he already set up to change.

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A/N: excuse the relative pointlessness of this chapter. I wanted to get both Crossbone Isle and the landing out of the way, and I filled the center with a dose of Mia going over her feelings for Isaac, but it does not seem to meet the standards of my previous chapters.

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*New Story Idea:

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_The Last Outpost of Sol_

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Summary:

Felix, master paladin of the king's army has been dispatched with a small unit to protect the outpost village of Imil from impending attack. While preparing his group, Isaac, Felix's apprentice, receives word of his father's death and is given his father's old heirloom sword, the Gaia Blade. Now, with the city under siege, Isaac must learn to master his father's sword while defending a village from mysterious attackers from the Devil's forest to the north.

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Clip:

Felix and Isaac walked out in the field to the north of Imil, the early morning fog still covering the grassy plains. They had arrived the night before, just in time to help destroy the last skeleton warriors that were attacking the city. Now, in the morning's new light, the two decided to take a closer look at their enemy. Glancing at the pile of bones on the ground, Felix saw that the size of the skeletal army was indeed increasing. He also noticed something peculiar about the skeleton knight's armor. While there was no insignia on the chest plate like on his and his apprentice's armor, there was a small insignia of a circle with a burning star in the middle on the hilt of the skeleton knight's longsword.

"I've seen that insignia before..." Felix heard Isaac say from behind him.

Frowning, Felix turned to face his apprentice, "That's because this emblem belongs to the Fire Clan."

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Other:

Alternate Universe

Rated T

Mostly Mudshipping

Will have Fire and Windshipping

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A/N: So, tell me what you think. I will attempt an action clip in the next chapter and if I get favorable reviews I will start kicking this out on my spare time when I am not doing _The Golden Truth_. I have many ideas for it, so updates will most likely be regular, though bi-weekly, depending on my spare time.


	6. Chapter Six: The Tolbi Test

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: I am happier with how this one turned out, but then again, I like battle scenes, though I like reading mudshipping even more... Luckily I found a balance. Also, read the end for the promised clip from _The Last Outpost of Sol_!

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"_Ivan, protect Mia!" Isaac called as he charged forward, swinging his blade at the ape and driving it back into an open field. Quickly infusing his blade with the power of Venus, he swung and slammed the blade into the ground, releasing the power into the earth itself, "_Quake Sphere!_"_

* * *

_Looking into his eyes, Mia once again saw the gentleness and kindness she knew so well, blanketed in concern. "It was only a dream, Mia... Everything's okay now, I won't let anything hurt you..."_

* * *

"_Th-thank you..." Mia said quietly, unsure if the queen had heard her or not. Mia sat at the fountain a long time before finally deciding to get up and heading back to the inn. '_What she said... It makes sense, but... Do I really like Isaac?_'_

_Mia shook her head as she stood, she already knew the answer, '_Yes... But who wouldn't?_'_

_Mia turned and began walking back to the inn. Before she reached the steps leading down, she turned, '_But... does he like me too_?'_

* * *

"_Isaac, why don't you fight in Colosso?" Babi asked, turning and facing the group that had saved his life._

"_S-sure..." Isaac said uncertainly._

"_Come to my palace to rest up, the finals will start tomorrow..."_

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Chapter Five – The Tolbi Test

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Isaac anticipated his opponent's attack and jumped back, planning his next attack. Since the battles were set to take place one after another, Isaac was trying to conserve his psynergy. He had been forced to use more than he had wanted to in the first battle because Azart had gone on a rampage, furiously swinging his sword and managing to hit him a few times. Isaac was forced to heal himself and then before he got hurt anymore, Isaac had used Gaia. While it was a weaker attack, it was much faster than the secret weapon that Isaac had been training. When he had cast the attack, he quickly rushed forward and struck him with a sword to make it appear that he had struck Azart down instead of using his power, which he knew the audience could not see. The audience loved how each of Isaacs strikes seemed to throw Azart back, but each time costing Isaac what little psynergy he had. Now he only had enough psynergy for only one more good attack.

'_Dodge left... right... Now!_' Isaac blocked aside his opponent's sword and hit him hard when he wasn't expecting it. Isaac continued until his opponent quickly backed off. Charging, Isaac got in a good hit, knocking back Satrage but also leaving him vulnerable. Satrage quickly swung out and struck Isaac in the arm. Isaac quickly healed and continued, knowing the only way out and to rest is to finish his battle...

* * *

Isaac fell to his knees, panting after Satrage finally surrendered. '_I really messed up,_' Isaac thought as he slowly got up and exited the ring filled with cheering people, '_I don't think I even have enough psynergy to cast my newest attack... I used all of my psynergy healing..._'

Mia looked at Isaac worriedly. She remembered their conversation last night and his words, _"I need to do this... To prove that I am strong and that I can fight by myself."_ Isaac could not know how deeply those words had hurt her, even though she knew they shouldn't. Though she mainly depended on the earth adept in battle, she had always kept the thought that he somehow depended on her to fight and keep fighting in her mind. While she knew it was selfish to not want him to fight because of that reason, she couldn't help it. Every battle he won was a blow to Mia and her dream, and while he had had a difficult time this round, he had proved again that he did not need her to fight. A single tear fell down Mia's eye as the girl continued to stare at the now empty ring. Slowly she stood to go back to the inn, Isaac wouldn't need her anyway, and all of the useless fighting was making her sick.

* * *

Isaac walked back to the waiting room only to find Mia picking up her stuff and preparing to leave. Her back was turned to him and the back of her beautiful robes were showing.

_**Flashback**_

"_So what do the markings on your robe mean?" Isaac asked Mia as she packed her clothes and other things for their journey ahead. He had wanted to ask ever since he first met her, but never really had an appropriate time._

"_It doesn't really stand for anything. I choose the design when I became the successor of the Mercury Clan and I've had it ever since," she explained, fingering the garment and seeming to lose herself in thought. "It was a gift for passing the trials and taking the oath to never light the Mercury Lighthouse beacon, and to help heal all of those in my village." She paused, removing the robes and holding them away from her, "I don't deserve these..." she said in a choked voice, a tear sliding down her cheek and to the floor..._

_**End Flashback**_

"What are you doing?" Isaac asked curiously as he walked over. Mia stiffened at his voice and paused her packing, but continued a moment later, going a bit faster than before.

"I'm leaving... I'm sorry, but I don't want to see anymore senseless violence and bloodshed," she explained. '_He doesn't need me anyway._'

"But Mia..." Isaac said as she turned to face him. His eyes pleaded with her to understand as she gazed into their cerulean depths. She seemed to pause at his expression before once again looking away from the Venus adept.

"You don't need me, Isaac, that's what this tournament is about... Proving that you can fight by yourself." Turning, Mia continued, "I don't want to watch you get hurt, not if you are doing it for yourself, not if I cannot help you..."

Isaac watched as she turned away and began to slowly walk out, her shoulders trembling. '_Does she really think that I am fighting for myself? I'm not, am I..? I..._' Isaac finally realized the truth, the truth about why he had managed to come to terms with his feelings, why he had been able to beat every monster up until now, and why he had been able to successfully cast Judgment, even though he was far from being ready. Not because of himself, but because of his friend's help and because of... "Mia!" Isaac called again at her retreating form.

"I... please... I want you to support me... I need you to..." Mia stopped and looked at him. "Please..." his eyes pleaded with the beautiful water adept. Mia merely stood there, looking at Isaac while seeming to consider his words.

"Isaac! It's time for the final match!" a voice called. Isaac turned to find the guard from the previous matches standing by the door. Isaac looked back to see if Mia had decided to go, but she was gone. "Come on, the match starts in five minutes!"

Sighing, Isaac turned and followed the guard out into the stadium.

* * *

When Isaac reached the center stage, he picked up his new weapon and scanned the crowds. Immediately, he spotted Garet's red hair that stood out easily amongst the others in the crowd. Next to him, Isaac spotted Ivan, '_But where's Mia?_' he wondered, trying to pick out the blue haired adept from somewhere in the crowd. '_She didn't come..._' the realization making him feel all the more worn. Behind him, Isaac heard the sound of a blade scraping against the ground of the ring.

"Enough sight seeing. Now, you battle this year's new champion, Navampa!" the warrior called before charging Isaac. Isaac barely had time to parry the blow before Navampa struck at him again. Barely able to hold off the seasoned warrior, Isaac jumped back for time to prepare himself again and try to plan an attack.

Navampa saw his opportunity as Isaac jumped back and took it, charging after the boy and swinging his sword. Isaac saw the strike coming and tried to jump back again, but only managed to evade some of the hit. Isaac clutched his arm and barely kept from crying out as the searing pain finally registered in his mind.

"Come on and surrender, kid. You have no chance of winning!" Navampa called, slowly circling the earth adept, "I don't want to have to hurt you, so why don't you make it easy on yourself and give up now?"

Isaac stood firm and gripped the claymore more tightly in his hands.

"Have it your way, then," Navampa said, charging again.

Isaac barely managed to block Navampa's new assault as the other warrior kept up a blistering fast series of strikes. '_I wish I had my psynergy now..._' Isaac thought wistfully as he raised his sword to block another attack, only to realize too late that it was a feign, moments before he felt a deep cut in his side. This time Isaac failed to hold it in and cried out, the pain causing him to fall to one knee.

"ISAAC!" said boy heard the cry as Navampa stepped back to circle around him again.

The earth adept managed to turn around despite the pain and saw the girl he had been looking for in the stands minutes before, '_Mia!_' The girl was standing up at the fence, her right hand clenched over her heart and worry clear in her eyes, despite the distance separating the two.

"Heh... Your girlfriend?" Navampa taunted, assured of his victory, "Come on boy, I'll let you get in one attack so you don't look completely pathetic."

Isaac turned away from Mia, feeling revitalized by her simply being there. Slowly standing, Isaac raised his sword in front of him and began concentrating his psynergy, preparing his most powerful attack.

"What, has seeing your girlfriend scared you from fighting?" Navampa laughed, "Then I will bring the battle to you!" Just as Navampa seemed as though he was going to charge, Isaac raised the sword above his head and ran forward, jumping into the air.

"_**RAGNAROK!!!**_" Isaac yelled, swinging his sword downwards towards Navampa. The veteran easily dodged the wide arc of Isaac's strike and laughed as the boy landed, panting.

Before Navampa could say anything however, the giant psynergetic sword Isaac had conjured far above the battlefield crashed into and through his chest before taking the warrior down with it into the ground. While the warrior's armor was able to stand up to conventional attacks, the psynergetic sword sliced right through the armor and pierced the warrior's body, sending waves of offensive earth energy throughout his body. When the hilt of the psynergetic sword reached his chest, it exploded outwards, sending millions of sparks of Venus energy into the air and showering the field. Above the roar of the attack, Navampa's piercing scream of pain could be heard, causing the normally loud audience to grow deathly silent. They didn't understand how one second, Navampa was beating Babi's champion and the next, he was lying on the ground, unable to stand.

Isaac barely stayed up on his knees, panting and struggling to remain conscious after unleashing his ultimate attack and draining the last of his energy. Using the last of his strength, Isaac managed to slowly stand and walk over to Navampa.

"Surrender," Isaac barely managed to whisper out as he raised the sword and pointed it at Navampa. While it would not have normally been audible, the crowd's silence made the words echo out as if they were shouted.

Navampa looked up at Isaac and at the blade now pointed at his throat, "What did you do? What... did you hit me with?" he asked in a pained voice.

Only standing by sheer force of will, Isaac repeated, "Surrender."

Navampa looked as if he was about to respond, but suddenly fell back down and fainted. In the stands, Isaac heard someone begin to clap slowly, gradually working up as the crowd joined in. Slowly backing away, Isaac peered back at his friends and the person who seemed to have replenished his psynergy by simply being there and supporting him, "Mia..."

Isaac dropped to his knees and collapsed, passing out as soon as the name left his mouth. '_You came..._'

* * *

Mia flinched when Navampa had struck Isaac, cutting him slightly in the arm. Mia's right hand clenched at her heart as her hand unconsciously began to fill with her healing aura. She wanted desperately to rush onto the field and heal Isaac, but she restrained herself, knowing that Isaac would not want her to help him. Despite wanting her at the match to support him, she recalled her failed attempt to stop him the night before the event, the first time Isaac had hurt her, even if it was unknowingly with his words.

_**Flashback**_

_Mia lay awake in her bed at Babi's palace. Ever since Isaac had agreed to fight in Colosso, she had felt something growing in the pit of her stomach. The closer the time came to the finals, the stronger the feeling became. Mia soon recognized the feeling as fear, the fear of losing him. Now, even though the bed rivaled the softness of the one she had in Imil, Mia still couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't even totally because of the feeling in her stomach or the unfamiliar place she now slept in. She was having trouble because she no longer felt Isaac's comforting aura, something that she had began depending on many nights to help her fall asleep._

_Mia turned over again and closed her eyes, but she only felt the coldness of her room, despite the thick and warm blankets covering her. After laying there for a while, Mia decided to get up, knowing that she was not going to fall asleep without seeing him. Getting up, she used the moonlight streaming in from her window to find the door and enter the darkened corridor. Mia knew that the men's sleeping wing was up another level and on the other side of the castle, so walking down the corridor, Mia headed for the torch lit stairs, all the while wondering what to say to Isaac._

_Mia climbed the stairs, her bare feet making soft sounds against the hard stone floor. Following the hallway, she passed a slightly ajar door with familiar voices coming from the inside. Mia stepped closer and listened._

"_...like her," she heard what sounded like Garet say._

"_You see? You're all red!" she heard Ivan laugh closely afterwards._

"_Shut up! It's not like that!" she heard the voice of the boy who she had been searching for speak._

"_Suure..." Ivan trailed off suggestively._

"_We all know you like her, why else would you get so mad when she was hurt _and_ why you wanted to go to Colosso. You wanted to show off to her!" she heard Garet say._

'Who are they talking about?_'_

"_Hey, speaking of Colosso, shouldn't you be getting to bed, Isaac?" she heard Ivan' voice ask._

"_Yeah... probably," Mia heard the earth adept say, and shortly afterwards footsteps started towards the door._

'I can't let them find me here!_' Mia panicked and quickly ran around the corner, the creaking of the door opening fully right as she stepped around. There was a pause as she heard the door close along with Isaac's and Garret's boots as they walked back to their rooms. After hearing the opening and closing of a door farther down the corridor and the other pair of footsteps fade off, Mia slid down the wall and sighed to herself. After gathering her courage, she got up and walked down to Isaac's room._

"_Coming!" she heard Isaac respond after knocking on the door. When Isaac opened the door, he seemed surprised that Mia was there, but he recovered quickly. "Mia? Is there something wrong?" he asked, concerned._

_Mia smiled timidly, "I-I wanted to talk to you," she said softly. Isaac nodded, believing it to be important if she went as far to come to him at night, and invited her inside. He walked over and sat on the bed, motioning for her to sit next to him. Mia slowly walked over and sat._

'_Why did I even come? I don't even know what to ask...'_

"_What did you want to talk about?" Isaac asked, bringing Mia back to reality._

"_I... I just wanted to ask if you think you are ready for this, I guess," Mia started, "I mean I know that you are a good fighter but I'm just worried... I have this horrible feeling in my stomach that something is going to go wrong..."_

_Isaac sighed, "I'm a little worried too... I've heard that people have died in Colosso, but I need to do this... To prove that I am strong and that I can fight by myself. If I don't, I don't think I'll ever get another chance to prove to myself, to prove that I can really do this mission."_

"_But... you don't have to fight by yourself, right? You have all of us to help you... you don't need to prove yourself... you have already when you fought and saved us all of those times, like when we fought the Killer Ape and the Kraken!" Mia tried to convince Isaac to not go, the bad feeling in her stomach growing with each word he spoke._

"_I do, Mia... I need to see if I can do this... I'm sorry, but I am going to fight tomorrow," Isaac said, seemingly sorry but firm as well. Mia nodded, unable to form any words and simply stood. Walking to the doorway and opening it, she turned around one last time to look as Isaac, but his eyes were filled with determination and he would not back down._

_**End Flashback**_

Mia broke out of her memory when she heard Isaac's cry of pain. Without even thinking, she ran forward to the fence holding the audience back, "ISAAC!" Worry was evident on her face when Isaac looked back and she saw how much the action pained him.

She watched as he turned back to face his opponent and then, raising his sword, she saw him infuse it with earth's energy. '_Is he going to use Quake Sphere or Gaia?_' she wondered as his sword began to glow brighter than she had seen it for any of his previous attacks. '_What is he doing?_'

Just as it seemed that Isaac's opponent was going to charge, Isaac raised his sword higher, the psynergy infused within it shooting up and into the sky high above. Charging forward, she watched as Isaac jumped up and yell, "_**RAGNAROK!!!**_" before he swung his sword down, the psynergetic sword following his swing. His opponent easily dodged the physical attack, but could not see the sword and therefore was laughing when it slammed him into the ground. Mia closed her eyes and held her ears as the warrior's screams pierced through the stands, causing her to feel sick to her stomach. She stayed like that until the screams died down and out, and she watched as Isaac brought up his sword to point at Navampa.

"Surrender," she heard him say, the word almost sounding like a shout in the complete silence of the crowd. Navampa spoke, but Isaac merely repeated "Surrender." Before Navampa could say anything, however, his head fell as he fainted. As the stands began to slowly applaud, Isaac turned back and looked at her, causing her heart to soar, only to fall lower than it ever did as he fell to his knees and collapsed to the ground.

"ISAAC!!!" Mia screamed, her voice heard over the applause and praise that the orator gave to "The new Champion from Vale, Isaac!" Mia didn't care as she leapt over the fence and ran towards Isaac's fallen body, concentrating and sending her healing powers out to him. He had been mostly healed when she reached him, but he was still not moving. Becoming more frantic, she forced herself to calm down and drawing out her purest energy, "_Pure Ply!_" Slowly, her hands began to glow a light blue, and placing them over Isaac, he healed completely in only a few seconds.

Moments later, Garet and Ivan appeared beside her, "How is he doing?"

Mia only continued concentrating, '_Please Isaac, wake up..._'

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A/N: Aren't you guys in for a treat... This part of the story came to me while writing out the first chapter of the story, and it is going to be one of the better moments in the upcoming story, in my opinion. I am quite proud of this little clip, especially the before and after parts that I wrote. It's not quite the same as the action sequence I promised you, but I think it is better. Don't forget to tell me what you think; if I get enough readers telling me to write it, I will, otherwise it will be on the back burner until I finish _The Golden Truth_. Just know that even if I work on _The Last Outpost of Sol_, this one should still have a steady weekly update.

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_The Last Outpost of Sol_

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Clip:

Isaac stopped in his tracks as he felt the Gaia Blade pulse in his hand. Looking at it, he saw the crest begin burning gold and from the crest, jagged lines fanned out. By the second pulse, the blade itself began burning gold and seemed to light up the dark night sky. The skeleton too, stopped, seemingly interested in the sword. Remembering back to his father's story that he once thought was crazy, Isaac raised the burning gold blade above his head, shouting, "Titan Blade!"

The night sky seemed to light up as a bright white light swiftly fell from the heavens, falling through the clouds and into the enemy before him. The giant skeleton screeched inhumanly as the enormous sword of light pierced it and slammed into the ground. The earth shook as it seemed to open up below the blade, Venus energy shooting straight up into the sky as the blade drove the skeleton to the ground. When the hilt reached the ground, the sword exploded, and with it, the giant skeleton. Fragments of bone shot outward, though they were too small to damage the city or hurt anyone. Finally, the afterglow of the explosion ceased and darkness returned to the field, and with it, a deafening silence.


	7. Chapter Seven: Crossbone Island

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: This chapter contains spoilers on how to solve a puzzle in Crossbone island... Don't say I didn't warn you.

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_Isaac was sitting next to Mia, staring into the camp fire. He had offered to stay up with her as he was not yet tired, but he had actually just wanted to spend a bit of time with the quiet healer from Imil._

"_Mia?" Isaac asked after a while._

"_Hmm?"_

"_Ever since the Bilibin Barricade... You seemed quieter than usual."_

_Looking over his shoulder, he saw her staring straight into the fire. He was about to bring it up again when she finally spoke, "It's... nothing really. It's just that I had been in those woods before."_

"_When?" Isaac asked, truly interested._

"_When I was younger," Mia said softly, her voice clearly asking him not to continue on. _

_Isaac stopped and turned back to looking at the fire, he did not want to pressure her. "If you ever want to talk about it..." He trailed off, the meaning clear._

_After a while of comfortable silence, he looked out of the corner of his eye at Mia again. Eyes widening, he noticed that she had fallen asleep. '_She must have really been tired,_' Isaac though, smiling a bit at her serene face. Glancing around quickly, he decided it was safe enough and so stood up and picked her up, cradling the body next to his chest lightly as not to disturb her. Slowly, he walked over to their shared tent and laid her gently down on her sleeping bags._

'She looks like an angel..._' Isaac thought as he tucked her in. After watching her sleep for a few more moments, he walked back outside and resumed the watch for her._

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Chapter Seven – Crossbone Isle

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Mia stared out of the window next to Isaac's bed. He had been sleeping in the castle ever since he had fainted at Colosso, not that she had blamed him. Mia smiled now, knowing that he would recover fully, even though she hadn't known at first.

Help had been slow to arrive to the arena, even after Lord Babi himself had sent for it himself. Mia had kept casting pure ply and restore on Isaac until Garet and Ivan had literally pulled her away, telling her that he was only unconscious. Looking back, Mia laughed lightly at how she had acted. She had thought the worst because of the multiple cuts on Isaac's body, but she had never bothered to check his strong and steady breathing nor his pulse. When they took Isaac back to the castle, Babi instructed the staff to let Mia and the others stay if they wished, though after the first few hours of waiting, Garet and Ivan decided to go out and explore more of the town.

'_They haven't come back yet though,_' she thought absently as she turned back and looked at Isaac. As she watched his sleeping face, his eyes slowly parted before opening fully and revealing his blue eyes. "Ohh, Isaac!" Mia said happily as she rushed over to check up on the boy, "How are you feeling?"

"Mia?" he asked, looking at her blearily as he still woke up. "Wh-where am I?"

"You are in the hospital in Babi's castle," Mia smiled.

"Wait! What happened at Colosso?" Isaac asked, suddenly remembering the tournament.

"You won, Isaac... Don't you remember?" Mia asked as she sat down at the foot of his bed.

As Mia finished speaking, the door burst open behind them, startling the two.

"So, sleeping beauty is finally up!" Garet called in with a smile, "Mia, weren't you going to tell us he was up?"

"You guys should have been here the while time!" Mia said a bit angrily as she knew the pair went out to have fun, not caring that Isaac was in this condition.

"Hey, we are sorry, but we got some great items from the fountain, look!" Ivan said excitedly, pulling out a light blade with a red hue to it. Garet followed suit with an axe and some armor.

"Yeah, this shield can even heal you when you use it!" Garet said with a smile.

Coming back fully to his senses, Isaac sighed, "Garet, you know that healing items break, then we have to pay to fix them before they can be used... We are pressed for cash as it is. It's a lot better to just rely on our psynergy to heal."

Garet's grin dropped slightly, knowing it was the truth, but Isaac couldn't take away his excitement of getting his new axe. "Yeah, whatever, but still, look at this axe! Its power is even aligned to Mars!"

Ivan shook his head and walked over to Isaac, "Here, I made sure to save a few medals so you and Mia could play."

"Thanks Ivan," Isaac said sincerely before hopping out of bed. "Are we ready to move out?"

"Isaac, are you sure you should be getting up so fast? You were out for almost a day!" Mia said worriedly as she stood and walked over to him.

"I'm fine," Isaac said, meeting her eyes and smiling to reassure her.

"Come on, you two lovebirds," Garet called, eliciting a light blush from the two who hurriedly turned from each other, "Lord Babi said to meet with him before we left."

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"What a waste... Why would we even want that cap?" Garet griped as he rejoined the group who was standing a bit off from the fountain. Everyone was watching as Isaac had his back to the fountain and held a token in his hand. He had already won his own Assassin's blade and armor, and had one medal left. Everyone watched as Isaac's face scrunched up in concentration before finally flicking the medal over his shoulder. Upon the roar of the dragon, Isaac turned and smiled as the dragon brought over the prize he was going for.

Turning back to the rest of the group, he saw Garet and Ivan arguing about something or another and so took the opportunity to go over to Mia.

"What did you get that time?" She asked, wondering what he was hiding behind his back.

"A present," Isaac said as he slowly brought out the cocktail dress from behind his back.

Mia blushed lightly as Isaac offered her the dress, "Thank you."

Isaac returned the smile, but before anyone could say something else, Garet cut in again, "Hey, can we stop the kissing and move on already?"

Caught up again with each other twice in the same day, Isaac and Mia again blushed and put some distance in between themselves as they left the city and moved south to the Gondowan Passage. On the bridge, they met Iodem, the man that they allowed to accompany them on Lord Babi's request. Continuing south and through Suhalla, they finally reached the Suhalla Desert.

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"At least this isn't as hot as the Lamakan Desert was," Ivan said as he followed Isaac and Mia who were leading the group.

"But it seems dryer than usual," Mia complained slightly as she finished the rest of her water, only to have Isaac hand her his own water pouch. Mia smiled in thanks as she took a sip then saved the rest.

As they continued walking forward, the walls of the desert seemed to narrow, the wind picking up speed as they approached. When they were in the middle of the choke point, a whirlwind formed beneath them.

"Garet, cast douse!" Isaac yelled, remembering what he heard from a villager in Suhalla.

"_Whatever the whirlwinds are, they do not like water."_

Thinking fast, Garet concentrated on his douse drop gem, "_Douse!_" Above them, a small storm cloud brewed and began to rain. The rain knocked down the storm, and as they fell, a Tornado Lizard appeared.

"Oh, great..." Garet complained as he pulled out his burning axe, "A big lizard."

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"That wasn't so tough," Isaac admonished, leading on while the rest of the group followed. As they wound their way through the desert, they defeated more Tornado Lizards, but luckily the assassin blade's unleash, Mortal Danger, was very effective against the Lizard, sometimes even completely draining the monster's will to fight. When they reached a cliff edge that dropped off into a sandy valley, Isaac paused. Looking around, he stopped the others.

"Look, there's a Mars djinni over there!" He said, pointing to the right. Walking over to the other edge, he paused, "But there is no way over to the other side..."

"Don't be so sure, Isaac," Ivan smiled as he closed his eyes. "_Reveal!_" Opening his glowing purple eyes, Ivan looked around and pointed to the rock wall, "There's a stone column standing right there," Linking hands with the others, they jumped across the pit then climbed down and collected the djinni. On their way up again, Mia saw something out of the corner of her eye.

"Isaac, look, there's a cave!"

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"Garet, cast douse!" Isaac called as they were picked up by the hidden whirlwind. After having followed the cave around, they were led to an area holding a whirlwind, which pulled them in without much time to react.

"_Douse!_" Garret called, but no storm cloud appeared. Before Isaac could ask what happened, the tornado launched them up and dropped them onto a familiar looking island.

Getting up, Isaac checked on everyone to see if they were okay before turning back to the island. '_We are here again... Last time, we weren't able to get past the dark room... Wait... Darkness!_'

"Guys, let's go!" Isaac called as he started towards the familiar cliff.

"Isaac, don't you remember the last time we went? We cannot get any farther!" Mia called, running after him none the less. Isaac paused to let the other three catch up before continuing on.

"Last time, we couldn't get past that one dark room with the statues, right?" Isaac asked the group rhetorically. "Well, remember what we got from Babi?"

"Ohh!" Mia said, figuring it out, "You mean cloak?"

"Exactly. With that, we should be able to sneak past the statue guards." Isaac said, reaching the cliff face and casting growth. Once inside and down the passageways again, they reached the room, and after casting halt, Isaac paused in the darkness. "Okay, let's go, Garet."

"_Cloak!_" walking up to the statue, Garet braced himself as he took one step, then another, the statue still remaining stationary. After he walked past, Garet returned and cast the spell on the others, allowing them to pass. After exploring the rest of the room and gathering the treasure, they moved on and down the stairs, Isaac pushing down the pillar again. After defeating the guardian monsters and entering a room with a floodgate, Iodem spoke.

"This island... It reminds me of stories I have heard about the legendary Crossbone Island." He said, catching everyone's attention.

"You have heard of this island before, Iodem?" Ivan asked, interested.

"Yes... It is said that it was a hideout for a strong band of pirates. They set traps of fearsome monsters, but also stowed away rare items within the rooms. The rooms themselves are puzzles, requiring many types of strange powers and strategy to solve." Iodem said.

"That sounds exactly like this place," Garet said as he pushed a log, trying to match it up with another one. "Do you know anything else?"

"Only that the pirates who made this place are now long dead," Iodem said.

The group finished the puzzles and managed to get into the next level, consisting of pillar mazes. After finding and capturing the djinn that was hiding and opening the chests, the group realized that they had forgotten one chest. Pushing the pillar into a grove in a raised level, they ran around until they finally reached it. Mia opened the chest, finding an axe. Reaching out to get it, Mia quickly pulled her hand back, "It's cursed, watch out!"

Isaac took a cloth that was lying in the chest and used it to wrap the axe before storing it. Ever since they first tried out a cursed weapon, they had always avoided them. They always caused problems, even though they were quite powerful. You could not remove a cursed item unless you visited a sanctum and they sometimes bound you in place, leaving you usually in a very exposed area. Ivan had found out firsthand that it was not easy to sleep with a staff in your hand... After leaving and fighting the next guardian monsters, they again discovered that they could move no further.

"Again?" Garet complained as he kicked the oddly-shaped pillar of stone.

"Come on, Garet... We should get going." Ivan called. Garet followed begrudgingly, but once the group reached the top, Garet thought of something.

"Uhh, guys? How are we going to get back? We don't have a ship this time..."

Isaac, however, knew what to do, "Remember what happened when we didn't douse the smaller tornadoes? All we should have to do is let it take us back to Suhalla."

"And if it doesn't, like when it took us here?"

"One problem at a time, Garet," Isaac said, jumping into the vortex with the others.

Once the winds stopped and dropped the group, they were again outside of Suhalla.

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A/N: Again, largely for setup. For those action fans, the next chapter might have something nice for you in it...


	8. Chapter Eight: Storm on the Horizon

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: Originally intended for next weekend, I finished this one rather quickly and thought of my readers, the date, and thought, "Hey! Christmas Special!" though it is only special because it is on Christmas, not because it is pertaining to Christmas (they are unfortunately still in early summer, this whole fiasco starting in spring). Enjoy!

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"So, what's your name?_" Isaac asked the newest djinni he collected from Kolima._

"Granite,_" the shy djinni answered, scrunching itself farther away from Isaac, as if afraid that the new person would hurt him. However, Granite loosened up a bit when a glowing yellow orb appeared on Isaac's shoulder before turning into Flint._

"Don't worry, Master Isaac can be trusted!_" Flint assured Granite. Granite nodded and approached Isaac, jumping on his other shoulder before turning into energy and joining Isaac, imbuing him with his power._

"So, what's you ability?_" Isaac asked as he stood and returned to his group._

"I can create a barrier that will protect you from enemy attacks for a short while, though I can only do it once a day._" Granite said cheerfully, happy to be reunited with his brothers once more._

"Why only once a day?_"_

"Because casting a barrier requires more energy than striking a powerful blow or holding an opponent in place._" Ground answered, "_All djinn have some restrictions as far as how often their effect can be used, so be careful in a long battle if you use us, we will not always be able to help you._"_

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_Mia opened the chest, finding an axe. Reaching out to get it, Mia quickly pulled her hand back, "It's cursed, watch out!"_

_Isaac took a cloth that was lying in the chest and used it to wrap the axe before storing it. Ever since they first tried out a cursed weapon, they had always avoided them. They always caused problems, even though they were quite powerful. You could not remove a cursed item unless you visited a sanctum and they sometimes bound you in place, leaving you usually in a very exposed area. Ivan had found out firsthand that it was not easy to sleep with a staff in your hand..._

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_Once the winds stopped and dropped the group, they were again outside of Suhalla._

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Chapter Eight – Storm on the Horizon

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Bright light filled the room as Isaac slowly opened his eyes. After going through the desert the first time and being set back, they decided to rest in the inn before going through it all again. On the bright side, since they had cleared out all of the lizards, they should be able to clear the desert before midday. Looking over to his left, he saw Mia still fast asleep. He took a few moments to enjoy how her face seemed to glow in the sunlight before pushing back the covers and quietly leaving the room to wake the others first.

After a nice breakfast prepared by the inn, they once again departed Suhalla for the desert. Unfortunately, when they reached the first place where they had seen a whirlwind, one was still there. "Here we go again..." Isaac sighed as they all approached the Tornado Lizard.

At midday, the group finally reached the place where they had been yesterday. The group climbed down the side of the cliff and was slowly walking through the valley when Ivan happened to turn his head to the right.

"Run!" Ivan yelled as a giant whirlwind was headed in their direction. The others didn't need to be told twice as the whirlwind closed in. It didn't take long though for the whirlwind to catch them and suck them up into its vortex.

"_Douse!_" Garet called the storm cloud and rained on the whirlwind, dropping them back to the ground and revealing their opponent.

"Be careful, I have seen these beasts before, it's a Storm Lizard!" Iodem called as he backed away cautiously from the monster.

"Spread out!" Isaac called as everyone regained their footing, "Mia, stay back and support!" he barely managed to get out before the storm lizard's ruff flared out and beat the air rapidly as it began glowing purple, releasing a sonic slash at Isaac. Unable to dodge it, he quickly unsheathed his assassin's blade and weathered the attack, receiving a few small cuts from the large wind blades.

"_Heat Wave!_" Isaac heard Garet call off to his right, moments later the fire attack scorched the lizard and drew its attention away from Isaac. Taking the chance, Mia closed her eyes and cast ply, healing Isaac fully.

The storm lizard charged Garet as the adept drew his Burning Axe. Just as the Storm Lizard reached Garet, Ivan and Isaac attacked.

"_Plasma!_"

"_Ragnarok!_"

The plasma bold merely fizzled out when it came in contact with the monster's scales, but when the giant sword came in contact, that got the lizard's attention. It released a deafening shriek as the sword came in contact with its body and exploded. Getting angry at the constant distractions, it again turned and charged Isaac, its ruff crackling with psynergetic energy seconds before it shot a storm ray at him. Isaac managed to dive aside, but this gave the lizard time to close in. Just as Isaac stood, the Storm Lizard reached him and swung at him with its razor sharp claws.

"_Eruption!_" Garet called, slamming his glowing red axe into the ground, sending the psynergy through it and to the lizard. As the attack reached it, the earth opened up, blasting the lizard and Isaac away with two fiery columns. While it damaged the lizard, it did not divert it from attacking Isaac, who was not mildly burned from the lava.

Isaac ran backwards, barely managing to block the Storm Lizard's swipes. Ivan and Garet ran over to help out Isaac, their weapons glowing with psynergetic power. Mia followed suit and as the team regrouped, the storm lizard screeched, slashing and beating its ruff again, sending out more large wind blades at the group. Garet and Ivan were blasted away as Mia got caught by the sharpened wind blades, causing her to cry out.

"Granite!" Isaac called as he unleashed the djinni who quickly cast a temporary protection aura around him and Mia. The lizard tried to attack, but it was in vain. Angered, it moved off to attack Ivan and Garet who were once again on their feet, preparing for the next attack.

"Mia, hold on!" Isaac said once he was certain that the aura would hold, "_Cure Well!_"

Mia coughed slightly as the Venus energies flowed into her, the warm, comforting feeling filling her completely as she felt the pain cease as the cuts slowly healed. Isaac concentrated harder, not liking how slowly the cut were healing. When Mia was finally fully healed, he helped her up again only to see Garet on the ground with Ivan following after being blasted by another sonic slash. Mia gasped as the Storm Lizard turned back to them and charged. Isaac cast gaia and ran away from Mia, drawing the storm lizard towards him and letting Mia run over and heal the other two.

Isaac steeled himself as he turned and weathered a storm ray that he saw coming after him. Directly after that, he blocked and parried the Storm Lizards assault as he again retreated. Isaac walked backwards as fast as he could while blocking blow after blow, barely managing to stop all of the monster's attacks from hitting him. Isaac swung his blade upwards to block another attack just as he tripped, his assassin's blade flying away as he fell flat on his back, now at the mercy of the lizard.

"_Ice Horn!_" Isaac clearly heard Mia's melodic voice yell over the monster's fury. Isaac felt sick to the pit of his stomach as the monster shrieked in pain as moments later stakes of ice plunged into it. The Storm Lizard turned and angrily charged its attacker, its ruff flaring and sparking with energy as it prepared another attack. Mia raised her ankh and prepared herself for the attack. She knew she was not as skilled as Isaac, but at least she could help hold off the beast for a little while. Mia dodged the storm ray the lizard cast just before it reached her, swinging away with its claws. Mia quickly raised her staff, barely blocking the blows as they came one after another. Misjudging the power of the lizard's next attack, her staff flew from her hands a few feet away and sending her to the ground, bleeding again from the lizard's claws. Mia bowed her head and braced herself for the next attack as the Storm Lizard raised its claws, preparing to strike.

"Poison Cloud!" Mia heard a familiar voice call from behind the lizard, just as the monster was about to strike. Quickly looking up, she saw Isaac in the air, holding onto an axe whose blades were burning a sickly green color from the psynergy it had drained from Isaac. As the axe connected with the Storm Lizard's body, the concentrated poison along with the sharpness of the axe cut through the scales and bit into its flesh. The Lizard screeched as the poison leeched into the large wound, giving it a strong dose of poison. The lizard quickly retreated to the side and began preparing a counterattack as Isaac landed in a crouch, the axe embedding itself into the soft sand. The Storm Lizard's eyes tinted red in pure rage as its ruff started glowing bright yellow and began vibrating. Mia drew back from the beast quickly and went to Ivan and Garet to help heal them.

"Isaac, get out of the way!" Mia cried from besides Garet, noticing that Isaac still hadn't moved.

"I can't!" Isaac yelled, body still frozen in a crouch, "I can't move!"

Realization suddenly dawned on Mia, '_That axe... it's the cursed axe we found before!_' Just as Mia thought that, Isaac jerked, signaling the curse was temporarily lifted and that he could move again, but it was too late. Just as he was starting to dive to the side, the Storm Lizard released the energy it stored, hitting Isaac with its most powerful and concentrated attack: the wing stroke. Isaac cried out as all nine of the large yellow bolts created from wind and heat cut into him. The hellish energies that were meant to be shot out over long ranges and spread out over many targets had all been directed at him, only a few feet from the storm lizard. The hellish energies cut through his new armor as though it wasn't even there, leaving large wounds and knocking him down to the ground. Isaac didn't even have the energy to cry out or move. The pain was so immense that the moment his back hit the desert sand, he blacked out.

"Isaac!" Mia called as the boy laid there, slowly bleeding out from the horrendous wounds inflicted upon him.

Mia had a dilemma. On the one hand, she had Isaac to heal from the grievous wounds he had just received. On the other hand, she had yet to treat Ivan and Garet who had been knocked unconscious minutes before, and the storm lizard now had a new target, them. Right now though, Mia didn't really have a choice as the Storm Lizard turned towards her, its ruff again glowing a pale yellow as it vibrated around its head. Just as the lizard was about to release the attack however, it suddenly stopped, the charge it was generating failed as the beast seemed unsteady on its feet and it fell. Right on top of Isaac.

"ISAAC!!!"

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Mia felt drained. The beautiful sunset did nothing to ease her as she stared at Isaac. She was tapped of psynergy and had used all of the group's spare healing items. She had even used all of the healing and restoring djinn that they had, but it still wasn't enough. Ivan and Garet seemed to have recovered okay, but Isaac... Tears filled Mia's eyes again as she watched over their leader. His breathing was shallow and labored and when Mia probed him before when she still had psynergy, she had felt that he still had internal bleeding.

Right after the Strom Lizard died, Mia had rushed to Isaac and managed to get him out from under the lizard with Iodem's help. While Mia began to heal Isaac, Iodem used the herbs, nuts and other healing items to patch up Garet and Ivan. After tapping out on her healing psynergy and djinn's power, Mia was in tears. She saw that the other two would be okay, but Isaac, the one who risked his life to save her, was still badly injured, and she could not heal him.

Iodem walked up behind her, having just returned from exploring the desert along the path ahead.

"We are almost out of the desert. I think it would be best for Isaac to heal if we got him out of here," Iodem suggested lightly, seeing the effect that her friend's condition was having on her.

"B-but his injuries... He shouldn't be moved," Mia protested weakly. '_I should have no say; I am a healer and yet I can do nothing to help him..._'

"Mia, the heat and arid conditions that will come tomorrow and the frigid night tonight will definitely do more harm to him than moving him," Iodem tried to explain to the healer.

'_He's right... I'm so worried over Isaac that I would have killed him by not acting,_' Mia thought as her resolve broke. Tears overflowed from her eyes as she continued to stare at Isaac.

"Mia, you must stay strong for Isaac's sake. He did this to save you, and he is not dead yet. Tomorrow I will scout ahead and attempt to reach Lalivero to get more supplies, but until then we must give Isaac the best conditions possible to recover." Iodem said.

Mia nodded, pulling herself together for Isaac's sake. Standing up slowly from where she knelt in front of Isaac, Mia looked up at the sun as she wiped her tears away, only to have then return seconds later. '_Mercury I beg of you, for all that I am worth, please let Isaac last the night..._'

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A/N: This is my first large battle scene with no time lapses; I hope that I did not disappoint, even though it is a bit shorter than usual. Tell me your opinions on this as I will most likely have two more large battle scenes before the first book is over, and I would like your feedback on what I need to improve. Also, Merry Christmas!


	9. Chapter Nine: Reocurring Nightmare

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

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"_Mia?" Isaac asked after a while._

"_Hmm?"_

"_Ever since the Bilibin Barricade... You seemed quieter than usual."_

_Looking over his shoulder, he saw her staring straight into the fire. He was about to bring it up again when she finally spoke, "It's... nothing really. It's just that I had been in those woods before."_

"_When?" Isaac asked, truly interested._

"_When I was younger," Mia said softly, her voice clearly asking him not to continue on._

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_A blue-haired girl skipped through the forest south of her hometown. Her teacher had let her venture out to search for several healing herbs in the Kolima Forest, but instructing her to get out by sunset. Looking up through the branches, Mia's eyes widened when she saw that deep red and orange hues had already lit up the sky, '_I have to hurry! Teacher said that monsters come out at night!_'_

_Mia had been taught to be a healer and how to use her psynergy at a young age, but she had only learned how to cast one offensive attack, frost. Unfortunately, that attack was not very powerful, but then again, she had never needed to learn how to attack._

_Looking around, Mia decided the best way out would be to backtrack her way as best as she could. Turning around, she began to walk quickly through the trees. Snap! Turning around, Mia searched for the source of the noise, but saw nothing. Getting nervous, she doubled her pace, continuing onward towards what she hoped was the way out._

'There!_' Mia smiled as she saw the path open up and lead outside of the forest. Taking a step forward, she was suddenly ambushed by two rat warriors._

_Mia slowly stepped back as they advanced on her before she quickly turned and ran through the trees to reach the tree line. Looking behind her quickly, she managed to concentrate, "_F-Frost!_" the weak spell caught one warrior's feet in ice, but the other rat continued after her. '_Almost there..._' Just as Mia reached the tree line, the other rat warrior managed to catch up to her and knocked her to the ground with its spear._

_As Mia struggled to get up, the warrior bashed her with the spear, knocking her down again. They were not the strongest creatures, but they were still more powerful than she was. As she struggled up again, the other warrior reached them and together, the two beasts began to hit her with their spears, the attacks causing the girl to cry out in pain._

"_Ice Missile!_" Mia heard the familiar voice of her teacher call out. Soon after, the rat warriors were skewered by enormous ice shards that rained down from above. Mia looked up at her teacher as he approached and smiled at her before darkness overcame her.

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_Right after the Strom Lizard died, Mia had rushed to Isaac and managed to get him out from under the lizard with Iodem's help. While Mia began to heal Isaac, Iodem used the herbs, nuts and other healing items to patch up Garet and Ivan. After tapping out on her healing psynergy and djinn's power, Mia was in tears. She saw that the other two would be okay, but Isaac, the one who risked his life to save her, was still badly injured, and she could not heal him._

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_Standing up slowly from where she knelt in front of Isaac, Mia looked up at the sun, steeling her resolve. '_Mercury I beg of you, for all that I am worth, please let Isaac last the night..._'_

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Chapter Nine – Reoccurring Nightmare

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Closing her eyes, Mia focused what little power she had regained to probe Isaac. '_He's still bleeding internally, but he doesn't seem any worse than before,_' Mia thought with relief, '_Thank Sol..._'

Iodem poked his head in shortly after, "I just finished setting up the other tents. The others seem okay, how is Isaac?"

Mia offered him a small smile, "No change, but after having moved him, that is a good thing."

Iodem nodded, "Then I shall interrupt you no further. I will speak with you tomorrow before I set off to search for Lalivero."

"Alright," Mia agreed before again turning her attention to Isaac's labored breathing, hating that she could do nothing other than wait.

* * *

Mia awoke with a start at the sounds of birds calling in the early morning. Unlike most mornings however, the sound brought no comfort as she immediately berated herself for falling asleep as she checked up on Isaac's condition again. Mia frowned as she noticed no improvement, however. Concentrating, she felt that some of her power had returned over the night, '_I should have enough energy to cast ply once in case I need it,_' she thought, hearing someone open the tent flap behind her.

"Garet and Ivan are awake, but they are still bedridden. How is he doing?" Iodem asked from outside.

"He's still the same..." Mia said, turning to Iodem, "Are you going to scout out Lalivero still?"

"I'm leaving just now, I just wanted to stop in and let you know how the others are," Iodem said, "Goodbye."

"Good luck," Mia said with a smile as she again turned to look over Isaac.

* * *

Mia frowned as she ran back to her and Isaac's tent. It had started raining when she went to check up on Garet and Ivan and was raining even harder now. Garet and Ivan had assured Mia before she left that they were both okay and could take care of themselves so she could watch over Isaac without worry. Closing the tent flap, Mia returned to her watch over the blonde Venus adept. Closing her eyes, she silently enjoyed the sound of the rain falling on the tent.

"M-Mia..?" A hoarse voice whispered, startling the girl.

"Isaac? How are you?" Mia asked once she recovered.

"I ach," Isaac admitted, looking up at the healer.

"Can I get you anything?"

Isaac shook his head a little, "What happened? The last thing I remember was attacking the Storm Lizard..."

"Oh Isaac... It attacked you and knocked you down. After that it turned on me, but the poison finally got to it and it collapsed..." Mia's throat constricted at the thought but Isaac understood.

"Why do I feel so weak?" Isaac asked, barely able to move his body.

"You are bleeding internally... I don't know how badly though. I tried to heal you fully with ply, but I couldn't yesterday and today I only have enough energy to heal you once... I don't want to do that unless there's an emergency thou-" Mia cut off as her eyes again filled with tears, "Isaac, I'm so sorry... It's my fault that you are injured in the first place..." she bowed her head in shame, unable to see the shocked expression on Isaac's face.

Despite the pain, Isaac reached up and raised Mia's head to look at him, "Mia, I chose to wield the cursed axe. I chose to use it to fight the Storm Lizard, despite the risks. Mia... knowing that you are unharmed and well now because of what I chose to do, I have no regrets." Isaac looked deeply into Mia's shimmering depths and wiped a tear from her eye. Feeling his hold on consciousness again fading, he lowered his hand, "Don't worry so much about me; take care of Garet and Ivan." With that, Isaac's eyes again closed and darkness overcame him.

"Isaac?" Mia croaked out as his eyes closed. She quickly checked his pulse, only to find it non-existent. "Isaac?" Fearing the worst, Mia closed her eyes again, "_Ply!_" Healing energies again rushed into Isaac, but like before, he did not regain consciousness. Despite this, Mia held onto the ply as long as she could.

Isaac coughed lightly just as Mia's ply ended. Taking this as a good sign, she listened to Isaac's breathing, relived to hear it was beginning to sound normal again. With that, Mia laid down in her bed, '_He seems a bit better now. I hope he won't need anything for a while..._' were Mia's last thoughts as she slipped into unconsciousness alongside Isaac.

* * *

Mia awoke with a start what seemed like an hour later. Looking around, she tried to find what cause her to wake up. From behind her, she heard two sets of heavy footsteps steadily getting louder. Just as Mia readied her Angelic Ankh for battle, the side of their tent was split open by a wooden club, causing Mia to cry out in surprise. Raising her staff, she charged out, managing to surprise the monsters enough that they took a few steps back. Now outside in the rain, however, Mia began to feel cold, '_I must stay strong for the others, Mercury help me..._'

The two adversaries turned, revealing themselves to be Kobolds. Holding her staff slightly in front of her, she waited for them to make the first move. The Kobolds ran forward and attacked, letting Mia easily dodge and hit one from behind with her staff. Turning, the Kobolds looked at each other before charging again. Mia continued her attacks, not noticing the meaning that passed between the two after every strike and when they healed each other.

Mia watched again as one of the Kobolds healed the other using a vial again, '_I need to end this, but I do not have any more psynergy... I cannot keep fighting like this, I am getting colder every minute I stay out here,_' Mia thought as she shivered, the cloths plastered to her body doing little more than making her even colder. Mia crouched a bit as they began charging again, only this time when she jumped away, the Kobold she was going to hit dodged her and the other one changed course and swung his wooden club at her, knocking her down with a sickening crack.

Mia cried out at the pain coursing through her body. Straining to get herself up, she found that the Kobolds were not about to let her prepare herself that easily. After knocking her down, they began swinging their clubs at her, beating her hard enough to cause her night robes to tear.

* * *

Isaac woke up to a sickening crack, followed by a scream of pain. Recognizing it as Mia's, he quickly rolled over and crawled to the tear in the tent that he saw. He was appalled at the site that greeted him. Two Kobolds were standing above Mia while pounding her with their clubs. Anger flashed in his eyes, flaring his power to life.

In the tent next to Isaac's, Garet and Ivan also woke up to the sickening crack and scream.

"Ivan, you hear that?" Garet said quietly, still drained from the fight before.

"Yeah," Ivan replied, sounding slightly more energized, but still tired. While healing potions were just as effective as psynergy, they did not give the added effect of imbuing the injured with some of the spell's power.

Before the two could speculate as to what was going on, a sudden explosion of Venus psynergy could be felt where they assumed Isaac's and Mia's tent was. Shortly afterwards, the sun seemed to rise as the near blinding glow of Isaac's psynergy lit up the sky.

Isaac concentrated from his position on the ground, drawing up his psynergy into the shape of two swords. Raising his hand that was free of the axe, he took control of them, "_RAGNAROK!"_ The yell got the attention of the Kobolds who stopped swinging at Mia and turned to the sound of the noise, a second before being skewered. The Kobolds shrieked out in agony as they were pierced, then thrown into the ground shortly before blowing up in a giant storm of Venus psynergy, completely vaporizing them.

Isaac quickly crawled over to Mia, his anger only intensifying at the site. Mia was curled up sobbing when Isaac finally reached her. When hw reached her, however, his anger dissipated, leaving nothing but concern for her. Concentrating again, Isaac called forth his most powerful healing spell, "_Cure Well!_" Isaac held his hand which burned with golden healing energy over Mia and poured his spell into the crying girl. Painfully slowly to Isaac, Mia's injuries were healed, her sobs calming down slightly as the pain lessened. After feeling that she was fully healed, Isaac took the crying girl into his arm, comforting her and helping her back towards the tent.

Garet and Ivan heard Isaac's yell followed the pained shrieks of two monsters as the two glowing swords destroyed them. Garet looked at Ivan, and while they were worried over what happened, they both knew that Isaac had it under control and so closed their eyes to return to sleep.

Mia continued to cry softly even when she was returned to the tent. While she no longer felt the pain, the memory of it still haunted her. She felt Isaac put his arm around her and hold her, the action comforting her greatly, knowing that he was there for her.

"Mia, are you okay?" Isaac whispered when she had calmed down enough. Mia nodded her head slightly, not trusting her voice yet. "Mia, we need to change clothes so we don't freeze or catch a cold," Isaac said as he felt the woman in his arms being to shiver. At the mention of clothes, Mia tensed. Though she was being beaten she still remembered feeling her clothes tearing. Looking down, she was horrified at the condition of her nightgown, only seconds before realizing the implications. Mia quickly raised an arm to cover herself, mortified at the thought of having been seen by Isaac and the Kobolds.

The first thought that came to Mia's mind after covering herself was to slap Isaac out cold, but as she turned to him, she saw that he was averting his eyes, giving her some semblance of modesty as he comforted and helped keep her warm. Mia's eyes softened as she turned back, glad that he wasn't trying to take advantage of her.

"Alright," Mia said, frowning slightly as Isaac released his hold on her.

"I'll check up on the others," Isaac said, beginning to open the tent. Really though, he only wanted to give Mia some privacy to change.

"No... It's alright, I trust you," Mia said a bit abashedly, her cheeks tinting red, "I don't want you to catch something if you go out there again." She explained when Isaac looked back at her oddly.

Isaac nodded and turned around, facing a canvas wall while focusing on drying himself off. Looking at her clothes, Mia was glad that she was not wearing her nice silk nightgown; there was barely an area without a hole. Pulling her exposing dress off, Mia quickly dried herself and put on another, thicker nightgown, immediately being relieved at the warmth it provided. Turning back to Isaac, she blushed lightly as she saw his bare back as he finished pulling on a new nightshirt.

"Isaac... Thank you," Mia said as she slipped back into her bedroll.

"For what?" Isaac asked, confused.

"For saving me."

'_Why wouldn't I?_' Isaac wondered, staring at the water adept as she slowly closed her eyes, "Good night, Mia."

"Good night."

* * *

Morning came with the gentle calling of birds, the rain having ended sometime during the night. Mia woke up pleasantly warm and bathed in sunlight, courtesy of the rip in the side of the tent. From outside, she could smell something cooking and she wondered if Iodem had returned yet. Finally deciding to open her eyes and get up, Mia was surprised to find Isaac's bed empty. Worried about his safety, Mia opened the tent flap only to find the object of her worries sitting in front of the fire, cooking some meat.

"'Morning," Isaac greeted, seeing her out of the corner of his eye. He was feeling even better than he had last night; he was now almost able to walk without any pain.

"Good morning," Mia returned the greeting, sitting down besides him.

Taking the skewer, Isaac pulled off some of the meat and offered it to Mia. Mia smiled graciously as she accepted the food and the two ate in silence.

Behind the two, Garet and Ivan peered out of their tent flap, spying on the couple.

"She's wearing a different robe," Ivan remarked, remembering back when she had checked up on them before the rain.

"She was outside in the rain, Ivan, of course she is!" Garet said.

"Good point... Do we know what attacked her?" Ivan asked.

"Not sure, but there were two monsters," Garet replied, recalling the two giant swords that Isaac had conjured in the sky.

"Should we stop guessing and actually ask them what happened?" Ivan asked, getting tired of not actually knowing.

"I guess, but are you sure you want to miss out on what might happen now?" Garet asked.

"Alright... But we go over before breakfast is over," Ivan said with a sigh; he did wonder if something had happened after all.

* * *

Not long after the two finished eating, Iodem returned bearing good news.

"Lalivero is very close. We pass through Venus Lighthouse on the way, so we can explore that first." Iodem told the two as Garet and Ivan walked out to join them. "So I see you all are alright. It seems that these potions are wasted now."

Mia smiled, "They seem to have recovered fully, though we can always use extra potions."

After getting Garet, Ivan and Iodem some food and explaining briefly what happened, they set off again for Venus Lighthouse and Lalivero.

"They aren't telling us something," Garet whispered to Ivan behind the group.

Ivan nodded, "Yes, but I'm not going to risk getting them angry by probing their minds. They will tell us everything later, when they are ready."

Garet grumbled, but agreed with Ivan. If they weren't ready, forcing it out of them wouldn't work.

* * *

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A/N: Meant to be a bit fluffy and to set things up later on... like possibly in two or three chapters? ^_^ As it is going, I will reach the end of the first book in 3-4 chapters, most likely the former, then things get fun. Here's where you get a say: Should I do a bit of selective Felix group moments, All of Felix's group's adventures with Isaac's group following, or skip to Jupiter Lighthouse? I can go either way, though I am opting for all of Felix's adventures with Isaac/Mia interspersed... This way we also get Jenna's side of the story. Finally, there may be some darker times up ahead as well, so keep an eye out for the next few chapters.


	10. Chapter Ten: The Moment of Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: I would like to dedicate this chapter to AnriMia24, who has been my most avid reviewer, her input is greatly appreciated. As such, this chapter is about 2.5-3x as long as a regular chapter! I hope you all enjoy!

A/N: Excuse the late posting; I am my own Beta and I didn't have time last week.

* * *

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* * *

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* * *

_Isaac, Jenna and Garet sat around a campfire at Kraden's house. They were having fun, telling stories and hanging out with each other. Every once in a while, the old man would pop out to make sure they were behaving. Just after Garet finished telling his story where he was in a village made out of food and he ate everything, Kraden again came outside to check up on the children._

"_Don't you three think you should be heading off now?" Kraden asked._

"_Aw, but we are having such a fun time!" Jenna complained._

"_Hey, I know, why doesn't Kraden tell us a story now?" Garet suggested, causing the others to nod in agreement._

"_Alright... Would you like an adventure story or a scary one?" He asked as he pulled a stool over to the fire._

"_Scary!" was the unanimous answer as everyone got comfortable._

"_Alright, long ago, there was a fearsome pirate named Deadbeard..."_

_Ten minutes into the story, Jenna was almost sitting on Isaac's lap while said boy held and comforted her while still staring at the older storyteller, completely engrossed._

"_... Using all of the different types of psynergy he mastered, he soon became the most powerful pirate in existence. He even commissioned a weapon smith to create the legendary Muramasa, a cursed blade said to control the fires of Hell. With it, he was able to burn entire villages with one swing of his sword, and he defeated the strongest fighters who dared challenge him. His only weakness was that he could not use Venus's power, and it was said that that is what eventually killed him. After being spotted in the Suhalla Desert, he was never seen again, presumably dead." Kraden finished before looking at the three. Garet was stiff with fright of the unbelievably powerful adept, while Jenna was sitting on Isaac's lap, her head buried in the crook of his neck as said boy stroked her back calmingly. Smiling at the young couple, he again spoke, "It's definitely time for you kids to go back home. I'll see you tomorrow again?"_

_Garet and Isaac nodded, though Jenna stayed still. Looking down at the beautiful girl in his arms, Isaac smiled as he saw she fell asleep. Looking back at Garet and Kraden, they nodded in understanding as Isaac gently stood with Jenna still in his arms and walked quietly back home with Garet. '_I would fight Deadbeard himself to save you, Jenna..._' Isaac thought as he watched the girl sleep peacefully in his arms while slowly walking to her house. '_I will always be there for you._'_

* * *

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* * *

Chapter Ten – The Moment of Darkness

* * *

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* * *

Isaac, Garet and Ivan grinned as they looked through the store's selection of weapons and armor. After going to a sanctum to remove the cursed Demon Axe from Isaac, the group had split up. The guys chose to browse the weapon and armor store while Mia went to look at the general store to stock up on healing supplies. Iodem had granted them a large amount of money for getting him safely to Lalivero, and they decided that it was time to upgrade their supplies.

"I'll take the Silver Blade," Isaac told the owner, purchasing the new weapon and wielding it. '_It's a lot heavier than I had thought,_'

"The Swift Sword please?" Ivan grinned as the light rapier was given to him.

"Give me that one," Garet said while pointing to a mace. He felt refreshed slightly when he wielded it, as if he was being healed. After paying for their weapons, they turned to the armorer and began the process all over again.

Meanwhile in the healing store, Mia bought a few herbs, potions, pay crystals and even a water of life that the store owner had offered. Smiling, she met up with the others in her group in the center of the town.

"Here, Mia, we picked out a good weapon and armor for you," Isaac said when she joined up, handing her the crystal rod and spirit armlet, amongst other things.

Mia smiled graciously as she accepted the weapons and armor, trusting Isaac to get the best items possible for her.

"Let's go then, we have no time to waste," Isaac said, turning and leading the group to Venus Lighthouse's real entrance.

* * *

After walking around the entrance to Babi Lighthouse and finding a Jupiter djinni, the group headed to the bottom, finding a group of men standing in front of a door. The men were trying unsuccessfully to open it.

Iodem stepped forward and spoke to their leader, Faran. After being apprised of the situation, Faran agreed to trust them if they could open the door. Walking up to the door, Isaac saw an odd inscription to the side of the door.

"Ivan, use reveal," Isaac instructed, pointing to the inscription. Moments later, Ivan's eyes glowed purple as his eyes gained true sight. Ivan then walked over to the door and pushed something in that wasn't visible to any of the others. Shortly after, the doors slid open.

"Quick, Iodem, the doors have opened! We must go in and save Sheba!" Faran said, running to the doors. But right as he reached them, they closed quickly. "But why?"

"It would be too dangerous for someone to enter without psynergy," Ivan answered, "There are things in that lighthouse that would be impassable without."

"So what, you expect us to let you rescue Sheba?" Faran asked, angered.

"Without psynergy, you cannot even enter the ruins. We will find and rescue Sheba, do not worry," Isaac said. Faran reluctantly agreed and Isaac turned to Ivan, "Let's go."

Casting reveal and pressing the button again, the group stepped past the door and entered the ruins.

* * *

Isaac and the others carefully slid down the sand fall. Upon opening reaching the bottom, the group went through the doorway and another passageway. Once they entered the next room, Garet groaned, "Not another puzzle!"

_**Flashback**_

"_GAAAAAH!!! Why do I always get the hard ones?" Garet shouted in dismay as he looked for an answer to the current puzzle. The group had decided to take turns solving the multitude of puzzles that the lighthouse presented and it was now Garet's turn. Mia giggled lightly ad Isaac and Ivan only shook their heads. This puzzle was so simple!_

"_Garet," Isaac said, deciding to grant his friend some mercy, "Why don't you look at the ground?"_

"_There's a hole in it, so what?" Garet said absentmindedly as he tried to force the rectangular pillar through the door._

_Stifling another laugh, Mia finished for Isaac, "Why don't you try to push the pillar into the hole?"_

_The rest of the group laughed quietly again as Garet used his psynergy to align the pieces and pushed the column until it dropped into the hole. Seconds later, a light emerged from a statue in the corner that followed the now completed pathway, opening the door._

"_I knew that would do it!" Garet said as the others shook their heads._

"_Come on, let's go," Isaac said._

_**End Flashback**_

"Come on, this one isn't that bad!" Isaac said, "Wait here, I'll scout out this place first."

With that, Isaac jumped onto the fast moving sand maze, leaving the others behind. Mia looked on with a bit of worry as Isaac disappeared around a bend. Minutes later, he returned with a big grin on his face.

"What is it Isaac?" Mia asked, relieved that he had returned without incident.

"My new weapon, the Gaia Blade," Isaac said, holding out his new sword. The rest of the group looked on in awe as the felt the blade's power without it even being used in battle. "Come on, I found the way to the other side."

Isaac, Mia and Garet began to head towards the sand when Isaac stopped, noticing that Ivan hadn't followed them, "Ivan?" Isaac asked as he saw the boys' psynergy surround him. Just as Isaac was about to speak again, Ivan's eyes shot open.

"Wait!" Ivan said, coming back to reality and breathing heavily, "I... I just had a premonition... We need to go back to Crossbone Isle!"

"Why?" Isaac asked, eager to catch up to Saturos and Menardi.

"I... I don't know, but I had a strong feeling that we need something there in order to succeed." Ivan said, his eyes pleading with Isaac. His other premonitions had never lead the group astray before, but they had also never been as close as they are now.

"Alright, we will go," Isaac said, "I trust in Ivan's abilities."

Mia nodded, accepting Isaac's decision at once, though Garet was less enthusiastic.

"Join hands with me," Isaac instructed as he closed his eyes. Once he felt everyone join hands, he began. The group's bodies began to glow yellow with the earth psynergy that Isaac was building up, and when he felt the warm glow of his psynergy completely encompass everyone, he opened his eyes shouting, "_Retreat!_" Immediately, the room seemed to warp around them before they were teleported outside the entrance of Babi Lighthouse.

Releasing their hands, they turned and began their trek back to Lalivero, then to the Suhalla desert.

* * *

By nightfall, the adepts had managed to make it to the edge of the Suhalla. Mia sat outside by the fire, the familiarity of her surroundings beginning to haunt her.

_**Flashback**_

_Mia crouched a bit as the Kobolds began charging again, only this time when she jumped away, the Kobold she was going to hit dodged her and the other one changed course and swung his wooden club at her, knocking her down with a sickening crack._

_Mia cried out at the pain coursing through her body. Straining to get herself up, she found that the Kobold's were not about to let her prepare herself that easily. After knocking her down, they began swinging their clubs at her, beating her and causing her night robes to tear._

_Mia curled up, trying to protect herself as best as she could, but each hit she took shook her and caused her to cry out. The beating seemed to last for an eternity, the Kobolds having no mercy for the downed girl._

_**End Flashback**_

Mia hugged her knees closer to her at the memory, a single tear falling from her eye. She could still feel the heavy clubs of the Kobolds as they beat down on her, the background making it all the more real to the Mercury adept. She had been helpless against their attacks, and if she had been alone... Mia shuddered at the thought.

_**Flashback**_

_Just as Mia was about to black out from the pain, she felt a massive power suddenly erupt somewhere behind her, the wave almost tangible. While it should have felt dangerous that someone had that much power, the energy comforted her, actually bolstering her drained spirit. Shortly afterwards, the sun seemed to rise as the near blinding glow of Venus psynergy lit up the sky. _

_Isaac concentrated from his position on the ground, drawing up his psynergy into the shape of two swords. Raising his hand that was free of the axe, he took control of them, "RAGNAROK!" The yell got the attention of the Kobolds who stopped swinging at Mia and turned to the sound of the noise, a second before being skewered. The Kobolds shrieked out in agony as they were pierced, then thrown into the ground shortly before blowing up in a giant storm of Venus psynergy, completely vaporizing them._

_Mia lay there, curled up and crying as the rain continued to fall. Despite having endured pain before, all the gentle healer from Imil wanted to do was to black out and wake up in her soft feathery bed in Imil. Suddenly, she could feel the presence of a hand on her back, its touch feather light. From the point of contact she felt a warmth rush throughout her entire body, calming her raging thoughts and reliving her pain. Once her whole body was filled with the healing energy, she felt the hand move, pulling her against a familiar chest, '_Isaac..._'_

_**End Flashback**_

Mia smiled slightly as she looked back into the fire, the blaze matching the intensity of Isaac's two attacks perfectly. She remembered the wave of his psynergy wash over her, comforting her. Afterwards, Isaac had tried so hard to heal her wounds, but even though he healed the physical injuries, he could never erase the memory of pain she had experienced.

Mia pushed the thoughts of her attack away, instead focusing on the Venus adept who was sleeping in their tent not too far away. Mia gazed up into the starry heavens with a soft smile, her eyes glazing over as she thought of him.

Ivan woke up with a start, having just had another premonition. '_I have to tell Mia..._' Steeling his resolve, Ivan silently got up and walked out to the water adept.

"Hello Ivan, it isn't your watch yet, is it?" Mia said lightly as she saw him approach. Seeing the troubled expression on his face, Mia became worried, "Ivan, what's wrong?"

Ivan sat down across from Mia and sighed lightly. Seeing the gentle concern in the girl's eyes, Ivan felt his resolve weakening, but he pushed ahead, "Mia... I just had another premonition," Ivan started, gazing at the fire then back at her.

"What was it about?" Mia asked curiously, wondering if she should get Isaac.

"Don't get Isaac... I don't want him to worry," Ivan said, almost as if reading the girls mind. While Ivan could, he had never invaded the privacy of his friends before. What Ivan had said intrigued Mia, but also began to worry her, "My premonition... even though I feel like we have to go back to Crossbone Isle... something there will bring Isaac great pain... I could almost hear his cries in my dream just now..."

"W-why are you telling me this?" Mia asked quietly. Ivan's premonitions have always come true, and the very thought of Isaac in that kind of pain...

"I... I had to tell someone... but I didn't want to tell Isaac; I don't want him to worry or get frightened," Ivan confessed.

"But what can we do?" Mia wondered, "Even though we know what would happen, how can we prevent it?"

"I... I don't... know," Ivan frowned, "I just pray that my premonition is wrong.

* * *

Breakfast in the group was more subdued than usual. Garet and Isaac joked around but Mia and Ivan only responded when directly questioned. Even with Garet and Isaac in high spirits, the other two's mood seemed contagious as the group set out later on through the winding Suhalla Desert. Despite asking them several times what was wrong, the two only insisted that nothing was wrong. Isaac was worried as they approached the cave where the giant whirlwind was located; Mia was never down like this and Ivan always had something to say or do, he was always energetic. Despite the uneasy feeling in the pit of Isaac's stomach, he determinedly pressed onward, '_The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can fight Saturos and Menardi and finally stop them._'

After clearing out the next room in Crossbone Isle and finding a Wicked Mace and a Cleric's ring, they moved on to the next room.

"Dose this place ever end?" Garet complained as the group moved through the water puzzle and finding even more treasure. The last puzzle took Isaac a while to figure out before finding the prize at the end.

"But... This is the Muramasa!" Isaac said after retrieving the sword carefully from the chest with the cloth inside.

"What are you talking about Isaac? That's only an old legend that Krad-" Garet stopped mid-sentence when he saw the sword's name engraved on the hilt, _Muramasa_. "I want it!" Garet cried as he grabbed it away from Isaac and suddenly, a weird feeling came over him.

"Don't Garet, it's cursed!" Isaac yelled, but it was too late, Garet had already taken the blade fully into his hand.

"Whoa..." Garet said as the sword gave him a feeling of great power, but at the same time, heavy feeling in his stomach.

"Great..." Isaac muttered as Garet happily swung the sword around. Isaac knew exactly how he felt, having wielded the Demon Axe not long ago, but the price of power was not worth being bound.

"Garet, here, wear this," Ivan called, tossing the Cleric's ring at the Mars adept.

"Why?" Garet asked even as he slid the ring onto his finger. Just as he finished asking, he felt the binding energy dissipate into the ring. Opening his hand, Garet dropped the Muramasa to the ground, surprising everyone. "Hey, that's awesome!" Garet smiled as he reached back to get his Righteous Mace, only to have a spark of cursed power shoot through him. "Ouch!"

"What is it, Garet?" Mia asked, getting ready to cast a healing spell.

"Don't worry, it's just I can't seem to be able to wield another weapon..."

"Well, that makes sense... The ring merely removes the binding effect of the cursed object, but you still have to wield it... You cannot take of the ring without holding onto the Muramasa, can you?" Ivan said more than questioned as Garet attempted to remove the ring.

"No, you are right," Garet said, "It's stuck." After picking up the Muramasa, he again tried to take the ruing off, though this time he was successful, the heavy feeling returning. "Better keep this on then."

Leaving the room, the group waited as Isaac pushed the stone pillar down before heading down the stairs again. This time, however, the sight that greeted them was not that of another set of doors, but of a pirate ship.

"Whoa!" Garet said, running up the gangplank and onto the ship. The rest of the group followed, but at a more cautious pace.

"Garet, come back, it might be dangerous!" Mia called from her position almost on top of Isaac. The ship gave her a strong feeling of evil that did not bode well for them. The group explored the ship, but every place was blocked off, save the forecastle. As they walked up the stairs to reach the top, however, the feeling of evil grew, seeming to fill the air. On the forecastle, there was a chest, surrounded by a pile of what seemed to be armor plates. Cautiously, the group approached, but just as they were about to reach the chest, a wave of evil swept over the ship, the armor seemed to levitate upwards, forming into the shape of a body. Within moments, Deadbeard had risen again, and he did not look happy to see intruders on his ship.

* * *

Normally, the monsters and other things that challenged Isaac did not scare him; in this case, he made an exception. Then again, evil, undead spirits that were made out of the strongest armor he had ever seen and who dwarfed him by about six feet are hardly what anyone would consider normal. What scared him even more was that within seconds of rising, Deadbeard had managed to cast Freeze Prism in half the time it took Mia to cast Hail Prism. Worse yet, they were stuck fighting him on a ship, so they could not spread out to mitigate the spells effect on the entire group. While they had faced the Kraken on a ship, that one at least didn't have holes at almost every turn.

"What's the plan, Isaac?" Garet called as he blocked a swing from Deadbeard's giant sword. The Muramasa's evil seemed to combat Deadbeard's power, giving Garet an advantage in hand to hand combat with the undead pirate. Despite this fact however, the undead pirate seemed hell bent on attacking Garet, seeming to aim directly for the Muramasa itself.

"We keep him distracted while Ivan tries to summon, then we switch!" Isaac said as he concentrated his psynergy through his Gaia Blade to increase its power.

"_Storm Ray!_" Ivan called, shooting the ray from his Swift Sword, which increased his own attack power slightly. However, the attack did little more than light up Deadbeard's armor and doing minimal damage which the armor suit just shook off, continuing its attack.

"_Glacier!_" Mia cried, swinging her Crystal Rod at the armor, hoping to freeze it in a giant prism, giving Garet some time to rest while the others attacked. Just as the ice prism formed around the undead pirate's legs and lower torso, it shattered, not slowing it in the least. Frustrated, Mia resorted to another offensive attack, "_Ice Horn!_" This attack yielded not better results, however, as the giant icicles merely shattered upon impact with Deadbeard's armor, not fazing him in the least.

"Save your psynergy for healing Mia!" Isaac called as he finished charging his attack. "_Ragnarok!_" The enormous psynergetic sword flew through the air and pierced the animated armor, causing the ghost to issue a deafening, inhuman screech seconds before the sword detonated. The armor flew apart, but just as the group was about to congratulate Isaac, the armor stopped, seeming to hover in midair before reversing back into its previous form.

Deadbeard slowly turned to face Isaac. Raising its hand, it concentrated energy into its hand as it did before with its Freeze Prism attack. This registered in the back of Isaac's mind as the boy backed up a step as the undead pirate was focused solely on him. Isaac failed to take into account however, that the psynergy orb was twice the size of the one before, and that it was not glowing blue, but rather a vivid purple.

Just before Deadbeard unleashed the attack, Isaac finally realized what Deadbeard was doing. "Everybody, spread out! Plasma!" He called, pushing Mia to the far corner of the forcastle moments before all of the super concentrated Jupiter psynergy that Deadbeard formed in the air above sparked. That small spark caused a chain reaction, issuing many of the largest plasma bolts anyone had seen to rain down. Right where the rest of the group was standing a second before. Right on top of Isaac.

Isaac could not describe the pain he felt the Jupiter attack strike him. The hellish energy blasted through him, blinding him completely as bolt after bolt poured into him. His body felt like it was on fire, every inch of his body being scorched by the plasma. He didn't even realize he was screaming out in pain until the attack subsided. Isaac didn't know when he had collapsed, he barely even registered that he had; his mind was numb to everything except for the all consuming pain.

Mia watched in horror as Isaac was struck by the Jupiter based attack. His screams cut into her mind as she stared at the scene play out before her, Isaac slowly collapsing into a twitching heap, '_All because he pushed me out of the way instead of running._'

Isaac lay on his back, the wind knocked out of him and his entire body screaming in pain. His mind could not process anything else, even the fact that Deadbeard was again charging for an attack. Deadbeard raised his hand again, forming another Spark Plasma in the air above, but this time, Mia and the others were ready.

"I'll distract him, Mia and Ivan, move Isaac and heal him!" Garet called as the Spark Plasma was almost ready to spark. "Scorch!" Charging forward, Garet leapt, swinging at Deadbeard's chest plate with his Muramasa which was now infused with Scorch's power. Upon impact, the explosive energy within the sword was released, blowing apart the armor almost like Isaac's Ragnarok did and preventing the spell from being cast. Meanwhile, Ivan helped Mia drag Isaac to a corner of the forecastle.

"I think that attack was Spark Plasma... It is the strongest Jupiter-based attack. I must go help Garet, try to heal him quickly." Mia immediately began healing Isaac's wounds as Ivan turned to help out Garet who had just finished blocking Deadbeard's next swing.

Isaac stared blankly ahead, oblivious to the ceiling above as it seemed to slowly move. '_Am I... Moving?_' He thought through the shroud of pain that had consumed him. Moments later, he thought he heard something before a pale blue light filled his vision. Slowly, he felt the shroud of pain lift from him, slowly dispersing as something else filled him. As he regained his senses, he heard a melodic voice to his side.

"Isaac?"

"M-Mia... Wha-What was that? I... Never felt that strong of an attack before, even from Ivan's Shine Plasma," Isaac murmured as his brain finally registered his angel's voice. Isaac had on occasion been hit by Ivan's attack by accident when it was summoned the way Deadbeard had as opposed to imbuing the power into his staff. Whereas the staff concentrated the attack, having the energy spark in the air let it hit several places at once.

"Ivan said that it was Spark Plasma," Mia said as she scooted over towards his head, "Are you alright now? I was worried..."

Isaac managed a smile and sat up, looking back at the battle already in progress. Mia quickly moved to support him, and together, they stood.

"Come on, let's go help them," Isaac said as he walked forward on his own, Mia following behind moments later.

***

"Fever!" Garet called, raising his blade again and charging. Blocking Deadbeard's swing, he slashed down, releasing the heat and energy stored inside as well as a smokescreen that would hopefully delude the pirate. Isaac had suggested the tactic after having been hit by Deadbeard's Freeze Prism head on. While they usually just distracted Deadbeard, Isaac had begun noticing an increase in the attacks against Mia, especially after she had healed one of them.

This was another reason that Isaac hated fighting people as opposed to monsters: they tended to notice the healer and target them. Mia took the opportunity that the smokescreen provided and ran over to Ivan. Mia felt reasonably safe, seeing as she had been imbued with Ivan's Ward and Garet's Guard not long ago, and from what they had seen so far, both of the elemental attacks that Deadbeard controlled she was quite resistant to. Also, while the pirate's psynergy attacks were powerful, his attacks were not quite as dangerous as his sword was still dull and rusty from its age. Just as she kneeled down, however she a wave of Mercury energy flow out from the smokescreen, passing through her and leaving, taking her bonuses with it.

Mia wasn't worried however, as the smokescreen still held, blocking the pirate's vision of her. "_Ply Well!_" Mia murmured as she knelt over Ivan, who was out cold. Luckily, as her ply healed external injuries, its power also took hold from within, healing some ailments, though just to speed things up, "_Restore!_" Upon saying that, Ivan's eyes slowly cracked before shooting wide open.

"Run!" He yelled as he shot backwards, using some of his wind power to aid him. Mia quickly turned to see what was happening, but she was too late. While the smokescreen was still in place, they had forgotten something. '_Ghosts and undead sense psynergy, they don't use vision..._' A moment after seeing the attack, she was suddenly surrounded by fireballs, the attacks setting fire to the dry and rickety wood of the ship, trapping her with the element she was weakest against.

"Isaac, Garet!" Ivan frantically called as the attack struck, but before they could ask what, Mia's screams filled the air as she was slowly burned, fireballs continuing to crash into her and the surrounding deck.

"Granite!" Isaac called. Surrounding and protecting Mia from the rest of the attack and fire that surrounded her. Isaac's eyes grew wide as the barrier covered Mia though, the fire was still burning inside, and he had just trapped Mia in with it. "MIA!"

"_Granite!_" Isaac thought frantically, as he saw the girl whither in pain even as she screamed, the fire around her burning her, "_Remove the barrier!_" A dull yellow flash was issues as the barrier immediately dispelled, but Isaac had made another mistake.

In the distance, Deadbeard saw the flash and finished casting Spark Plasma, scattering Garet and Ivan and giving him some room. Raising his sword high above, he cast Impact on it, the spell removing the rusted spots and sharpening the blade's edge. '_Now, to remove the pest... permanently._' He thought as he charged at the healer just as his psynergetic flames vanished. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Venus adept charge him with his sword. The sword was imbued directly with the power of Venus, and so would damage him greatly if hit. Calculating the distances in his mind, Deadbeard swung his sword so that at the apex of his strike, he cut through the healer's body, and so that he would be in time to block the Venus adept's blow with his sword, and he did just that.

Deadbeard's spirit grinned as he felt his blade claim another victim. Continuing his swing, he was surprised when he did not feel his blade meeting his opponent's. Looking at the field, he saw the boy's sword glow brightly with Venus psynergy, '_Wha-_'

* * *

Isaac rushed forward to try to protect Mia when he saw Deadbeard charge her. He knew with a sick feeling in his heart, though, that he would not make it. This knowledge spurred his psynergy into doing something he had never felt the blade do before. His sword pulsed, but it was not the same as when the Silver Blade pulsed to unleash Aqua Shock, it felt... almost like a summon. Isaac stopped, his body willing him to plant his feet and raise his sword point to the ceiling. Within moments, a small area in the center of the hilt light up and burned gold with Venus psynergy.

Cracks radiating from the circle light up from the center to the blade and edge of the hilt, then the blade itself burned a golden hue. He then felt his psynergy flaring to the surface like a summon, and he channeled it into the blade. The blade pulsed, and suddenly, Isaac knew the words to unleash the power. "Titan Blade!" His voice rang out in the cavern, the blade shining brightly as from the ceiling an enormous sword fell, striking Deadbeard square in the chest. The enormous sword pierced through him, Venus psynergy shooting up from the ground below where the sword tip was and engulfing the dead pirate. When the hilt reaches the ground, the sword exploded outward, the energy again throwing Deadbeard's armor through the air, this time even further than when he had cast Ragnarok.

Isaac stared in wonder at the power he had unleashed. He felt a little drained, but Deadbeard had yet to recover. Isaac shook his head as he ran over to Mia, dread filling him from the pit of his stomach by what he saw.

Mia lay on the ground, blood staining her healer's robes and pale blue dress, slowly staining the charred deck below her. "Mia... _Cure Well!_" But even as his hands burned gold, repairing the charred skin and deep slash across her chest, her once vivid azure eyes seemed to dull.

"I...Isaac..." She gasped out in between raged breaths as her eyes locked onto his, seeming to focus on something behind him. "I-it h-hurts..."

"M-Mia!" Isaac shakily called to her, but even as he finished, he heard a gentle sigh escape from her lips even as he saw her chest fall for the last time. Isaac stared dumbly at his fallen angel, his spell stopping the moment he saw her release her last breath. He was oblivious to the battle still raging only feet away as his mind was filled with swirling emotions. Disbelief, anger, helplessness, confusion... But they all were replaced with sadness and despair when his mind finally comprehended what had happened. '_No!_'

His body shaking, Isaac again concentrated on his healing spell, pouring all of his psynergy into healing her. Even after Mia's wounds had been fully healed, he did not stop, only continued to pour more energy into the spell, the continuous usage of such a large amount of psynergy beginning to tax his body.

"_Master Isaac, you must stop..._" The voice of Flint spoke up, "_You cannot save her..._"

"_Shut up!_" Isaac yelled to his long time partner, but even as he did, tears filled his eyes as part of his mind knew the words to be true. That small realization sent a pang though Isaac's heart, that even though the ache was so small, it made him fell as if his own spirit was being torn in half. Over the months that Isaac had gotten to know Mia, he knew that he had grown to like her and enjoyed her presence, but he had never guessed how deep his feelings had grown for the gentle healer from Imil. "_I... I can't lose her..._"

"_Master Isaac will hurt himself if he keeps on using this much psynergy..._" Vine's voice sounded this time.

"_I don't care!_" Isaac screamed to his djinni, "_I can't lose her, I would rather die! I lo-_" Isaac caught himself, he hadn't even been thinking about what he was saying, but after realizing what he was about to say, he looked back down at the face of the beautiful, kind, compassionate and angelic girl before him. In that one instant he knew what he was about to say was the truth, "_I-I... love her..._" Over the months that he had gotten to know the healer from Imil, feelings for her had grown within him. It was like the feeling he had around Jenna, but at the same time different, stronger. Just now, when he had lost her, had he realized just how much his feeling for her had grown. '_I love her._'

"_It would be too dangerous to save her, master!_" Flint said, trying to get Isaac to stop.

"_What, there is a way? Tell me!_" Isaac said, getting angry at his djinni for hiding a way to save the girl.

"_If you do it, you might kill her as well as yourself!_"

"_I am willing to take that risk. Please..._" Isaac said, and for a moment there was silence. Then, Isaac felt a surge as knowledge was implanted into his mind, a new power suddenly growing within him.

Isaac gathered up his psynergy, and slowly, he channeled it upward. This spell was more difficult to cast than any he had before as he had to form a barrier without the aid of his djinn. Pulling on his reserves that he usually saved for emergencies, he concentrated his psynergy in his hands before he pushed his power outwards, surrounding the two in a shroud of Venus psynergy. As Isaac poured out more energy, the barrier grew brighter and brighter until suddenly with a flash, all was black. Isaac looked around, before his eyes settled on a pale blue, glowing oval of energy. It hovered above Mia, dimming very slowly as small particles of energy, Mia's essence, rose up and disappeared into the air, never to be recovered.

Before him, he knew was the soul of Mia, slowly dispersing as it was without a body to protect it. Isaac knew that only the first part of the spell was complete and that he still had to restore Mia's soul. Given time, a damaged soul could repair itself, if it was enclosed within a body, but a damaged soul could not return to a body, even if the body was fully healed. Isaac pulled upon the knowledge within him, but couldn't concentrate. Forcing himself to stop, he looked at Mia's soul, then down at Mia who was still lying on the ground, and his mind cleared, a feeling of serenity entering him and allowing him to concentrate on the next step.

Isaac raised his hands, palms facing each other, but apart so they were on either side of his heart. Closing his eyes, Isaac focused his mind on Mia, and images of them together flashed through his mind. The time in her village when they first met, when he comforted her and eased her doubts, when he spoke with her at Colosso, and when he held her after being attacked by Kobolds.

These thoughts gave him strength as he summoned forth another kind of power from deep within himself. Opening his eyes, he looked down at the body of his angel as pure Venus psynergy particles began to flow towards Mia's soul. These particles surrounded the soul slowly, stopping it from losing any more energy to the elements as opposed to damaging it, as the normal, unpurified psynergy that Isaac used for his spells would have done.

Then, Isaac pushed forth, releasing what he knew to be his own soul's energy to Mia's orb. The particles slowly replaced the lost soul, causing Mia's orb to glow a bright sea green. When Isaac felt he had healed her soul completely, he concentrated on the golden psynergy surrounding Mia's soul, causing it to collapse and cover the soul. Concentrating as hard as he could, Isaac used the psynergetic barrier surrounding Mia's soul to release some of its pure psynergy into the soul, canceling out his own soul's energy. When Isaac thought all of his soul was purified, he stopped his concentration and Mia's soul flashed, becoming completely pale blue again and shining brightly.

Isaac felt fatigued as he again concentrated on the remaining golden aura and used it to guide Mia's soul down slowly, back towards her body. As the golden energy touched Mia, it was absorbed by her, giving her body the spark it needed to once again retain the soul, which was hovering directly above her now. Slowly the soul touched her body and there was a blinding flash of light as the spell was broken, her soul returning to her body and the ship coming back into focus.

Isaac fell to his knees on the deck, the wood around them no longer charred black, apparently having been renewed by the healing Venus energies that were unleashed. He barely noticed the two boys fighting Deadbeard still or Mia, who was breathing rapidly as if she had been holding her breath for a long time.

"I-Isaac?" she asked when she finally regained control of her breathing, but the boy did not answer, instead giving her a large grin before darkness overcame him; his body falling the rest of the way to the deck. "Isaac!"

* * *

"Ivan, Get ready!" Garet called as he swung the Muramasa, the blade creating a howl in the wind as it suddenly burst to life with fire psynergy. "Demon Fire!" Flames from the pits of hell itself formed under Deadbeard as Garet continued his charge, swinging and knocking back Deadbeard to the edge of the ship.

Behind him, Ivan raised his hands as he released four of his djinni. They quickly formed a circle and spun around him, forming the lens needed to summon. "_Come, Thor!_" Ivan's voice echoed throughout the cavern as a beam of Jupiter psynergy shot up and through the rocks in the ceiling before bending down again and surrounding him and Garet. Garet, however noticed that the shield did not cover Isaac or Mia and so he turned, ready to use Flash, but the site that greeted him stopped him. Around the area that Isaac and Mia were before was a large dome, glowing gold and giving off a powerful Venus aura. Garet merely stared at it in awe as behind him, Thor himself flared into existence, blasting Deadbeard away with his powerful lighting attacks before disappearing again.

"Garet, help!" Ivan's voice again rang through the cave, getting Garet's attention as Deadbeard returned and swung his sword down, Ivan barely managing to block the attack. Garet returned to the fight, but felt that Deadbeard's' power was weakening.

"Cover me," Garet called to Ivan even as he summoned forth three djinn. He still did not have the necessary control of his psynergy to safely summon the fourth level of Mars, but with Deadbeard weakened, all it may take is one well placed blow.

* * *

"_Come, Tiamat!_" Mia recognized Garet's voice behind her even as she checked over Isaac, again casting ply, but the spell was weakened by the Mars energy that was in the air, caused by the summon. To compound the problem, the barrier that formed around them to protect them from the summon's energy also had an adverse effect on her psynergy, hindering it even more. Because of that, despite pouring her remaining energy into several healing spells, Mia could not get a single response from Isaac.

'_What is wrong with him?_' she wondered frantically. '_He always responded to my healing before, even if only a little..._' From behind her, Mia heard Deadbeard's shrieks pierce through the cavern, followed by the sound of armor crumpling and falling to the ground, signaling Deadbeard's defeat. Mia did not feel relief, because even though Deadbeard could no longer hurt them, Isaac was not able to celebrate with them.

* * *

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Q and A time!

Q: Will the rest of your chapters be this long (2.5-3x longer)?

A: Only on special occasions.

Q: Why can't Garet summon attacks of the fourth degree?

A: Garet is more of a swordsman than a mage, therefore, his psynergy is inherently weaker and unable to safely summon _Meteor_.

Q: Will Isaac and Mia get together anytime soon?

A: I had originally planned on it happening at the end of the first book, but now I am not so sure... It all depends.

Q: Depends on what?

A: On when my muse says they should. I'm not going to be like some authors who just suddenly have them together after some cheesy "I love you" line.

Q: Why is it that Isaac always seems to get himself hurt?

A: Because he risks his life to protect Mia.

Q: Why is Mia so helpless that she need saving all the time? Are you saying she is weak?

A: I am putting it like that because it works better with what I have planned. I actually consider Mia as one of the stronger and more mature members of the group.

Q: Well, the constant saving from the brink of death is getting old.

A: Is that a question?

Q: Was that an answer?

A: Touché.

Q: Will any of the next few chapters have more saving from the brink of death moments?

A: Nope.

Q: Any more for the rest of the story?

A: I don't have the entire story planned yet, but none so far.

Q: Will Isaac die?

A: Yes.

Q: Are you lying?

A: Nope.

A/N: As far as the story goes, I will probably have a few selected Felix gang episodes pre-lighthouse along with some scenes with Isaac's group. This will mostly be for getting Jenna's side of the story, for some events to happen that will bring Isaac and Mia together and to introduce new powers, weapons, summons, etc.... To put it simply, the rest of the story won't quite pan out how I would want it to if I skip it. No clue how many chapters, but there will be more than three. At any rate, tell me what you think, reviews do have an impact on how the story flies and dies, as made example by this chapter.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Moment of Peace

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: I will be revising all chapters from this point onward. I will also probably fix up the last three chapters and possibly even add another chapter since I was iffy on how they were going. Now that summer is here, however, expect a few updates (so long as my muse cooperates)!

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Mia hummed lightly to herself as she walked through Imil, heading back to the Sanctum from one of the older villager's house. Walking over the bridge, she paused and looked out at the rest of the village, at the men working to cut down trees for firewood and the children playing at the village square. Mia sighed as she watched the children play; she had never had the time as a child to enjoy herself as most of her time was spent learning about herbs and other medicinal roots.

"Hey Mia," a cool voice said from behind her and her stomach felt queasy. Turning around, she was greeted with hair that matched hers and dark, piercing eyes.

"Alex," Mia greeted stiffly as she turned to begin walking towards the sanctum again. Alex had joined the village not long ago and was always trying to get with her and talk with her whenever she was alone. However, after spending one meal with him yesterday, she had become nervous about him around and decided to leave. However, after walking her to the doors of the sanctum and inviting himself in, he had tried to force himself on her. Luckily, a villager had been waiting for her in the sanctum and had knocked him out. The day after, the mayor had ordered Alex to leave by sundown tomorrow.

"Mia wait, please," Alex said, grabbing hold of her arm, but that was the last straw for the healer.

"_Ice Horn!_" She cried out, her eyes glowing blue as sharp icicles impaled Alex, only causing minor damage, but stunning him enough to make him lose his grip.

"Mia are you alright?" One of the men from the village militia asked, running up the stairs after hearing her voice. "Alex!" He roughly grabbed the boy and threw him to the ground while calling the other members who were on guard. "He was attempting to try something on Miss Mia!" That was all the other men needed to hear before picking him up and roughly dragging him to the village gates.

"Mia! I will kil-"

_The rest of the dream as cuff off as a small jet of water struck Mia in the cheek. Groaning, Mia looked around at Fizz, who had woken her from her dream._

"Sorry Miss Mia, but it is your turn to be the lookout,_" Fizz said._

_Mia nodded, the dream still fresh in her mind. '_That happened so long ago... But now Alex is back._'_

"_Mia?" A familiar voice softly called from outside the tent._

_Mia breathed in a sigh or relief, her thoughts switching to the boy outside and not dwelling on Alex and his threat. Alex didn't scare her anymore like he once had because now, she knew Isaac and the others would protect her._

"_Coming!"_

_

* * *

_

_Isaac and Jenna sat on the edge of a mountain, looking out at the river cutting through fields of grass below them. Jenna rested with her head on Isaac's shoulder, smiling contently. Isaac was smiling as well as he lowered his head and kissed Jenna lightly on the head. In response, Jenna raised her own head and drew Isaac in for another kiss. For the past few days they had been inseparable from each other, Isaac having asked Jenna to be his girlfriend on the night where they first kissed on his roof. Their young passion and happiness was seen by everyone in the village, even now, only having been together for only a few days._

_Isaac pulled back after one final peck and settled for staring into Jenna's captivating eyes. He couldn't remember being this happy since the time Mt. Aleph erupted. The girl slowly moved from lying down at his side to straddling him as she again lowered herself slowly onto him, their faces getting ever closer towards each other, their breath softly caressing each other's faces..._

"_I love you..."_

* * *

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Chapter Eleven – Moment of Peace

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* * *

Isaac woke up warm, laying on something soft and a slight weight on his chest. Opening his eyes, he stared around blearily in the semi-dark room as his eyes adjusted. When they did, the first thing he saw was that he was in a room lying on a bed. The second thing he saw was Mia, asleep in a chair with her head resting gently on his chest. Isaac lay there, looking at her cute face as she slept peacefully as what happened before now replayed in his mind.

_**Flashback**_

"_M-Mia!" Isaac shakily called to her, but even as he finished, he heard a gentle sigh escape from her lips even as he saw her chest fall for the last time._

_

* * *

_

_Isaac looked around, before his eyes settled on a pale blue glowing oval of energy. It hovered above Mia, dimming very slowly as small particles of energy, Mia's essence, rose up and disappeared into the air, never to be recovered._

_

* * *

_

_Isaac fell to his knees on the deck, the wood no longer charred in a circle around them, apparently having been renewed by the healing Venus energies that were unleashed. He barely noticed the two boys fighting Deadbeard still or Mia, who was breathing rapidly as if she had been holding her breath for a long time._

"_I-Isaac?" she asked when she finally regained control of her breathing, but the boy did not answer, instead giving her a large grin before darkness overcame him; his body falling the rest of the way to the deck._

_**End Flashback**_

Isaac smiled lightly as he looked at the light blue hair of the Mercury adept. Soon after, he felt her stir slightly.

"I-Isaac?" Mia said softly as she sat up, her aquamarine eyes focusing on his. Isaac smiled at her from the bed, causing a smile to slowly blossom on her face in return. They simply sat there, smiling at each other for a while before Mia spoke again, "You're okay," she said, her smile turning fragile and her eyes glistening with tears.

"So are you," Isaac said, his smile growing slightly, again feeling relief that he was able to save her.

"Me," Mia said incredulously, followed by a hollow laugh, "Y-you're the one w-who was unconscious for a day..." she continued as her tears began to fall. "I-Isaac, I thought y-you had..." Mia couldn't finish, and instead, launched herself forwards, holding onto Isaac as if for dear life. Isaac was a bit shocked, but he wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort the girl. "I was so worried..."

Isaac was at a loss of what to say, "It's okay... I'm here now..." he said lamely as he held onto her, gently stroking her back with one hand. Mia only hugged him tighter as she continued to sob into his shoulder. "Don't cry..." he said quietly, still clueless as to what he should do.

"Isaac... w-what happened to y-you?" Mia asked when she had calmed down a bit more. "I-I asked Garet and Ivan, a-and nobody knows what happened... Garet s-said that w-we were surrounded b-by a barrier of your ps-psynergy, but..."

Isaac held onto her a bit tighter as he recalled what had happened when he set up the barrier. He figured that the girl in his arms knew nothing of what had actually happened, "Mia... back when we were fighting Deadbeard, do you remember what happened after he... he attacked you?"

Mia was silent for a second as she tried to recall what happened, "I-I remember him using a powerful fire attack, and you tried to save me with Granite's shield... then Deadbeard.... h-he... and then I guess I fell unconscious..." she finished, again on the verge of tears.

Isaac began stoking her back again as he frowned slightly. '_So she doesn't know, but should I actually tell her that she... died? I don't want to worry her, but... I don't want to lie to her either..._' Isaac's frown deepened slightly, but he decided to tell her the truth. "Mia... you didn't fall unconscious after you were attacked... you... you died." He said the last part quietly and solemnly.

Mia stiffened in his hands and pulled away slightly to look into his eyes. She couldn't believe what he had just told her, and he didn't blame her. "I... I died?" Mia asked, even though his eyes held grave sincerity. "B-but..." Mia pulled back even more and looked at her arms, moving them around slightly, "I'm alive now... how can I be here if I died?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

Isaac smiled weakly at her, "Because I brought you back."

Mia's eyes were a swirl of emotions; confusion, shock, horror, "How?" she asked weakly, the realization that he wasn't joking and she had died seeming to finally sink in.

Isaac faltered slightly when he tried to think of how to actually explain what he did. "W-well, I... I had to give you some of my life energy to heal yours." he explained slowly. "That's why they felt so weak; I had to give you enough energy so that I could bring you back."

Mia just sat there for a while, staring blankly at him, and this despondency was what he was afraid would happen, "Mia, please... Don't worry about it, we are both okay now..." Isaac attempted to cheer her up, but it didn't seem to work. Getting desperate, Isaac pulled her to his chest and held her, hoping to comfort her better than he could with words.

"Oh, Isaac," Mia said in barely above a whisper while moving her arms around him again, accepting the hug. Just as Isaac was about to say something, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Mia, it's time for breakfast." They heard Ivan's voice sound through the door.

After Ivan left, Isaac gave her a small squeeze before releasing her and attempting to stand.

"Isaac, here, let me help you," Mia said, seeming to instantly lose her depressed attitude.

"Thanks. I'll wait outside so you can change first, then we should talk to the others.

* * *

Isaac and Mia walked down the stairs together a bit slower than usual as Isaac was still feeling a bit weak. They met Garet and Ivan in the dining room and sat down opposite the two. Ivan immediately greeted Isaac, but Garet was still wolfing down his food, so he did not notice Isaac until a while later.

"Hey sleeping beauty, nice to see you are awake," Garet said when he finally looked up from his plate at the other two. After the greeting, the waiter came and Isaac and Mia ordered with Garet ordering seconds.

After the waiter left, Isaac turned to the other two again, "So, what happened when I was out?"

"Well, I got some new armor," Garet said, opening his shirt to expose the black armor with a faint golden glow. "Otherwise, we just stayed here for the day and a half waiting for you."

"Yeah, do you know what actually happened to you?" Ivan asked.

"I remember seeing some kind of barrier surrounding you two when Ivan summoned Thor, but I didn't see what happened afterwards." Garet finished, looking at the two.

Isaac looked at Mia, silently asking her if it was okay to say what really happened. Mia nodded and Isaac took her hand under the table and squeezed it lightly as he turned to the other two, "After Deadbeard attacked Mia... she died."

"What?" Ivan and Garet asked, looking disbelievingly at him.

"Then how is she still alive?" Garet asked.

"I... brought her back." Isaac said, looking back at Mia. She was looking down at the table, her face again looking saddened. '_I should talk to her alone later on..._'

"How?" Garet asked, still confused.

"It's a long story, but... my djinn taught me how to perform revive. I can bring someone back from the dead with it, but it is very dangerous. If I didn't do it right, both of us could have easily died." Isaac said, again giving Mia's hand a squeeze, this time, she returned it. Looking back over at her, he noticed that she was smiling a small, serene smile at him. Isaac smiled back at her, and when he returned his gaze to the others, they had a knowing look on their faces. "What?"

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Isaac and the others made their way through the hot sands of the Suhalla for the third time, this time hopefully being their last. Garet and Ivan were walking slightly ahead while Isaac and Mia walked slightly slower, lagging behind the group.

After a while of comfortable silence, Isaac decided to bring up what had been bothering him since he had first told Mia that she had died, "Mia?"

"Hmm?" the girl besides him responded, looking over.

"I've been meaning to ask... has something been bothering you?" Isaac asked.

Mia looked at Isaac, seeing in his eyes that he knew something was. Deciding not to try and convince him otherwise, she turned away from him, facing forward again, "It's just... I feel like I am only holding the group back... I am the weakest member of this group, my healing psynergy is weaker than yours... I... I have no real place on the team, everyone can do what I do, only better. I am weak... I mean, I even _died_..." She finished, tears starting to glisten down her cheeks.

Isaac stopped walking and immediately felt compelled to hold her, and seeing how it had helped once before, he stepped over and wrapped supportive arms around her. Mia gratefully returned the hug, burying her head into his shoulder as she released her tears.

"Mia... None of us think any less of you because you died. It could have happened to any of us," he said. "You also might take a bit longer to learn a higher level spell, but all that means is that when you master it, it will be even more powerful. Mia..." He said, slowly moving her head so she was looking into his eyes, "I owe you a lot, you saved me and the others many times, and always healed us back to health whenever we needed it."

"I-Isaac..." Mia said, touched by his words, but she was still plagued by doubts, "I-I can heal you guys, b-but... you saved m-my life I-Isaac... I can n-never r-repay you... a-and I'll o-only ever b-be a burden to y-you all..." Mia said, her eyes filled with tears and pain, "I-I w-was never the h-healer you are, Isaac... I s-should leave... Y-you would b-be better without m-me around, h-holding you back..."

Isaac was shocked, but quickly held onto Mia as she attempted to run away. "Mia! You aren't listening to me," Isaac said, his tone frustrated but calm. "We don't think of you as a burden, we enjoy your company and we depend on you just as much as we depend on each other. Please, believe me when I say that we are way stronger with you than without you. We would never have made it here alive if it hadn't been for you. I... we need you," Isaac said, his voice and eyes pleading with Mia.

Mia looked into his eyes, seeing nothing but truth and sincerity there, but in the back of her mind, something registered, '_He said 'I need you'_' she thought, causing her to smile despite the tears, her confidence returning slightly.

"Hey you two, did you need a room? We can still go back to the Suhalla inn and stay another night!" Ivan joked. Immediately, the two broke apart, blushing furiously as they stared at the ground away from each other. Ivan and Garet grinned in triumph as the two quickly caught up to where they were before the group began moving onward through the Suhalla once more.

Even though they were caught in an awkward position, Mia still couldn't help but smile the rest of the time through the desert. Even though the heat was oppressive, the thought of Isaac being with her and comforting her fears had helped her get through the constant sandstorms and hard battles; having Isaac's extra water pouch didn't hurt, though.

* * *

Garet groaned as they ascended Venus Lighthouse again. He absolutely hated the puzzles, though Isaac seemed to thrive on them. Following their leader through a doorway they reached after solving several puzzles, they walked out onto a sandfall. Continuing onward, the group finally reached the last puzzle. The sandfall had triggered a memory Garet had been meaning to ask Isaac ever since they returned from Crossbone Isle.

"Hey, Isaac," Garet called as he followed Isaac away from the group while Isaac attempted to solve the puzzle.

"Hey Garet, so did you want to solve this puzzle?" Isaac asked with a grin, already knowing the answer.

"No," Garet said quickly, "But I have been meaning to ask you something since you passed out at Crossbone Isle." Taking Isaac's grunt as a go ahead, Garet continued as he helped Isaac push a pillar down the room and towards the others, "When we were fighting Deadbeard, I looked over at you and saw you and Mia surrounded by a dome made from your psynergy, what was that?"

Isaac faltered a little, but quickly recovered. "That's... a long story. Now is not the time for it. I'll tell you all later, after we stop Saturos and Menardi."

Garet frowned slightly, but shrugged and continued to help Isaac move the boulder. He was right after all; they were almost to the lighthouse aerie.

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A/N: Another chapter down, the final battle to go! Not sure how long that one will be, but definitely a full battle. I also apologize for the extremely long time in updating. We will say I haven't had too much spare time since exam week, and the ensuing homework-ridden weeks. I cannot promise a new release every Saturday as I used to, but I shall endeavor not to go a month without a post. That being said, please read and review!


	12. Chapter Twelve: The Price of a Hero

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: Content revised.

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_Isaac and Mia stood slightly to the side, having just felled Menardi as Ivan cast another attack at Saturos, "_Shine Plasma!_" Soon after, Saturos also fell down in defeat. Slightly behind Ivan, Garet whooped in victory as their attention then turned to Felix…_

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"_The light from the lighthouse will restore our psynergy!" Saturos called after managing to throw the Venus Star into the opening of Venus Lighthouse. "Now bear witness to the true strength of the northern wilds!"_

"_Oh, give it up! We beat you once, we'll do it again!" Garet said, getting angry at the two evil fire adepts._

"_Go, Felix! Take Sheba and go!" Menardi called as she too felt the psynergy coursing through her body, slowly replenishing her._

"_I can... Go?"_

"_We may not have the strength to protect Sheba after this." Saturos said as he walked closer to Menardi, "You must take Sheba without fail!"_

_As Felix turned and left as Garet took a step forward, "Wait, Felix! I won't let you go!"_

"_Heh heh... Felix is the least of your worries now." Saturos said, pure malice tainting his voice as his power was fully replenished. Together, he and Menardi continued to collect the psynergy permeating the air._

"_Oh my – they're glowing!" Mia said as the two stepped even closer and clasped hands._

"_It's time you learned what true power is!" Menardi smirked as the psynergy began to overflow from their bodies._

"_Hya ha ha! It's too late to run!" Saturos said as they fused together, their bodies growing in size as their psynergy caused them to glow white. The group stared, transfixed as the white mass approached them, continually growing. Finally, Saturos and Menardi grew to a critical mass and their bodies shattered, excess energy shooting outwards in a giant firework that blinded the four adepts. As the light died down, a great roar was heard, followed by a great rush of smoky air as the beast exhaled, a giant wave of Mars psynergy enveloping the group… _

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Chapter Twelve – The Price of a Hero

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"Spread out!" Isaac yelled as the Fusion Dragon stilled, its mouths beginning to glow a bright purple as fire spilled out in between its clenched teeth. As the fire finished building up, both mouths opened and twin jets of fire shot straight out, narrowly missing the adepts who dodged to either side. While a powerful attack, the Fusion Dragon could not swivel its body or heads, lest it be thrown back by the tremendous release of energy.

"_Ice Horn!_" Isaac heard Mia call from somewhere to his right. Moments later, sharpened icicles rained down onto the dragon, burying themselves slightly into its hide, but quickly melting upon impact. The dragon roared and quickly spat out a dark blessing at Mia while the other head's fangs glowed red with psynergy. Mia gracefully sidestepped the hastily aimed attack and raised her staff to cast another spell.

"Mia, stay back and save your psynergy for healing!" Isaac called over his shoulder. It was a risky move to use her power for only healing as it was effective against the Mars aligned beast, but he had a feeling that this battle was far from over, and they would definitely get injured again, just like when they had fought Saturos and Menardi before.

Mia frowned slightly at his request, but complied, instead turning to her djinn to attack. Moments later, Garet cried out as psynergy enveloped him and seemed to bite down, drawing Garet's life energy to the Fusion Dragon. Instantly, the damage done by the Ice Horn was repaired and the dragon roared triumphantly.

"What was that?" Garet asked, dumbfounded, but now even more on his guard.

"I believe it is an attack that drains your life to heal its own." Ivan said as he raised his staff before him, imbuing it with power, "_Shine Plasma!_" Ivan called, sending the attack at the dragon. The dragon roared again as the three successive blasts of plasma slammed into it, charring its scales. Just as the dragon turned to where Ivan was, a loud call was heard from the left.

"Titan Blade!" Isaac cried as he raised the glowing sword above his head. As the light from the lighthouse reflected off of the sword, its blade glowed even brighter as a bright light was also seen in the sky above. The dragon ignored it and instead opened its mouth, a foul smelling reddish haze billowing out from its depths.

"Hold your breaths! It's poison gas!" Mia cried. Garet, however, had been too late as he had charged the dragon, his sword glowing red with the power of his djinni.

"Scorch!" Garet finished, his blade slamming against the scaly hide of the dragon and sending it flying backwards with Scorch's blast attack. Right as he landed on the aerie again, he breathed in the poison and immediately started coughing.

"_Cure Poison!_" Mia called as she quickly healed Garet from afar before the poison could take hold in his system. Seconds later, the entire aerie flashed a brilliant white as the sword finally reached the top of the aerie. Everyone stared in awe as the colossal sword pierced the Fusion Dragon. It was twice the size of the sword Isaac had summoned against Deadbeard, and it crushed the dragon under it with its power. The beast shirked as the hellish Venus energies coursed through it, even as more energy shot up from the ground below the sword, mimicking the beacon's shine. As the hilt of the sword reached the ground, the sword exploded, the raw Venus energy sending the dragon up into the air a bit before it finally landed, looking a lot angrier than before.

Suddenly, however, the dragon's roaring ceased and it withdrew into itself. In the blink of an eye, the dragon quickly bent its knees and leapt into the sky.

"What is it doing?" Ivan asked as the sky suddenly began to burn purple as the dragon descended from the atmosphere.

"Granite!" Isaac shouted quickly, summoning the djinni and quickly setting up earthen barriers around his friends. Just as Granite finished, the Fusion Dragon landed on the aerie, nearly on top of Isaac. The force of the landing coupled with the wave of fire generated by the emergence from the atmosphere sent Isaac flying through the air before falling right at the edge of the aerie. Quickly getting up, Isaac saw the rest of his friends hadn't fared any better. Mia was charging up to cast wish well to heal everyone as Garet and Ivan also got up again, grateful for the barrier which took the brunt of the massive attack.

Mia frowned slightly as she concentrated on another healing spell for Isaac, "_Ply Well!_" But even as she finished healing the group, a thought came to her, '_We cannot keep going like this. If we keep fighting and the dragon thinks we are winning, it will just launch itself again,_' Mia quickly backed away from another poison gas attack and stood at the steps leading back down from the aerie, '_I have to think of something that will end this battle quickly, for all of our sakes._'

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Mia struggled to her feet as her three male companions dodged around, continuing their attacks against the enormous Fusion Dragon. They had been fighting for a long time now and they had to end this battle soon or nobody would survive. Mia watched as Isaac summoned Ragnarok, only for the dragon to shrug it off and blast him with fire which he only narrowly dodged. Closing her eyes, Mia came to a decision.

"_Fizz?_"

"_Yes, Miss Mia?_"

"_Prepare the others._"

'_But, you can't-_"

"_I have to... There is no other option._" Mia spoke to the djinni she had for the longest time with an air of finality.

"_Yes..._"

Mia felt within herself as she tapped into all of the psynergy she had left, '_I just hope that this is enough._' Seconds later, she felt her powers weakening slightly as all seven of her djinn detached from her and formed a circle around her.

"_Mia, are you sure? I have not told you of all of the dange-_" Fizz stopped himself at the look his master gave him.

Slowly, the djinn around her began to spin. As they spun faster, they formed a ring of pale blue energy. The ring slowly grew brighter with an icy blue power that Mia had never felt before. She had summoned Boreas only once before, but she had not used all of her djinn. The power she felt from them was immense as they began to raise, hovering above her, charging up completely for the summon to come. As the lens of blue light began to form over her head, she felt a knowledge implant itself in her mind, much like when her djinn taught her new attacks. Mia's eyes widened as she suddenly comprehended why Fizz was so reluctant; but glancing back at the dragon as it attacked her friends, she steeled herself for what she knew she had to do. Suddenly, her djinn pulsed, the immense energy wave from it was almost tangible as it radiated down and through her, the calming Mercury energy setting her mind at ease as she slowly raised her hands, a lone tear falling from her eye. '_Forgive me, Isaac..._'

* * *

Everyone stopped. Garet was knocked off balance as a giant wave of Mercury psynergy rushed through him, breaking through the mars shroud that used to cover the aerie. The wave was so immense it reminded him of when Mercury Lighthouse had been lit. In front of them, the dragon seemed to almost shudder as the wave hit it. Everyone glanced back as they saw Mia raise her hands towards a pulsing ring of Mercury energy.

"Mia, No! Don-" Isaac was cut off as Mia said the fateful words that he had been dreading to hear.

"_Come,_" Mia called, the voiced of her djinn calling with her, their deafening cry echoing on the top of the lighthouse and over the lands, "_Boreas!_"

As Mia finished the call, she felt the familiar sensation of her power shooting out from her outstretched arms and into the lens. The pale blue beam that emerged from the lens was far larger than anyone in the group had ever seen before, seemingly dwarfing Isaac's call of Judgment earlier on their journey.

'_He had only used four djinn then..._' Mia thought fleetingly as she felt a weird sensation course through her gently, making her fear change to only slight nervousness. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that she would not survive this, but that was okay with her because, "Isaac..." Mia said, voice barely above a whisper. That one name, however, seemed to complete her, her last nerves fading as a serene state fell over her. The beam above her glowed even brighter as she released all restrains on her power, no longer plagued by the uncertainty and doubt, only accepting what was to come. '_This will save him and all of the others…_'

As the bright, icy blue beam reached the heavens, a pure white light, the God of the Northern Winds, descended. Just as Mia could make out the light, she felt something that even the knowledge she had received from her djinn could not prepare her for. Even with her mind at peace, as the beam arced down to create a shield, she felt her psynergy run dry, and, as the summon could not be stopped and still needed power, it turned to her ultimate source. The beam above her changed from the bright icy blue to pure white, and as power continued to be drawn, Mia felt her soul rip. Instantly, Mia was consumed by a pain unlike any she had felt before while suddenly becoming unable to control her body anymore, even as her body stood strong and continued providing energy to the field. As the field descended, instead of it expanding to cover Mia's friends as it was supposed to, it shrunk down, only barely covering the water adept as the winds seemed to freeze around the Fusion Dragon.

Isaac finally got over his shock and ran towards Mia, not noticing the dead silence of the battlefield as Boreas charged up for his final attack. Just as he reached the girl, she fell to her knees, her beautiful cerulean eyes clouded in pain and looking torn. '_Her soul... it is being torn apart..._' Isaac leaned against the blue barrier even as he saw the bright light of Boreas's power form and shoot across the sky towards the aerie. Death meant little to the adept as he watched the angel in front of him, the girl he loved, die only inches away, and he could not reach her.

"Mia... Remember when I told you I had something important to tell you after we defeated Deadbeard? Mia!"

Mia felt her eyes turn slightly to look at Isaac, seemingly of their own accord, and through the haze of pain, his next few words rang clear in her head.

"I love you," Isaac barely managed to whisper out, staring at the cerulean haired girl in front of him.

"Flash!" Isaac barely made out Garet's voice behind him as moments later Boreas's attack struck the Fusion Dragon, the energy whiting everything out. From his position next to Mia, Isaac was thrown down the lighthouse stairs, the power knocking the wind out of him, but thankfully mostly being blocked by Garet's fast action. After Boreas disappeared back into the sky, the beam emanating from Mia shrinking rapidly, but instead of flowing back into Mia as normal psynergy would have, the beam burst, becoming lost in the air as specks of white glittered off with the wind. Mia completely collapsed as the barrier and beam disintegrated around her, the environment of the summon that kept her alive with her soul in her body vanishing.

Isaac crawled back over to Mia when he regained his senses, holding her cold body close to his as, for the second time on this journey, Isaac stared at the girl that he loved, dead in his arms. Only this time, Isaac knew from the knowledge he had gained early on when his djinn had taught him about powerful summons that Mia's soul was broken.

"Mia…"

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A/N: Am I not evil?


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Lover's Requiem

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: Okay, so I am very evil, but I made an effort to get this story out earlier than I would have usually! Be grateful that I didn't put it on the back burner like two chapters ago! *dodges sharp projectiles thrown by frenzied readers* Okay, maybe I deserved that…

Thank you, AnriMia24, for being a loyal reviewer!

A/N: Content revised.

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_Isaac felt torn inside. He didn't know that anything could hurt this much, and nothing he had ever experienced before ever had, not even the time when Garet had accidentally pushed the stone pillar down on top of him when he was first trying to master psynergy. The thing that Isaac couldn't understand was the fact that his pain wasn't even physical._

"_Isaac?" The boy turned towards the voice that came from the doorway. Dora stood there with a worried look on her face as she saw her son curled up on his bed. "Isaac, if you cannot sleep, you can go and visit her…"_

_Isaac quickly got up and put his clothes on before rushing out the door to Jenna's house. '_Jenna…_' Isaac thought as he ran down the steps carved out of rock._

**Flashback**

Isaac and Jenna sat high in a tree overlooking a valley just on the outskirts of the village, spending some time together after having escaped. They had left Garet back when the sun started to set; he still probably thought they were hiding back in the village, even though the sun was barely visible above the mountain range now. If he knew where they were thought, they would never get some time to themselves; Garet never seemed to take a hint.

"So Isaac..?" Jenna asked, tilting her head slightly from its resting spot on his left shoulder.

"Hmm?" Isaac asked as he playfully squeezed her closer to him.

"I was just wondering… About the future, you know?" she asked, a blush creeping up on her face that she was glad Isaac couldn't see in the darkness.

"What about it?" Isaac asked as he turned to his left, leaning against the tree trunk slightly as he kissed the top of her head lightly, '_If only we could be like this forever…_'

"Well… do you think that… we will still be together?" Jenna asked, blush deepening. After waiting a while she looked up to see Isaac staring intently at her, "Isaac?"

"Jenna, what I see in the future is us together, with some children of our own," Isaac said truthfully to the girl at his side. "I can't imagine living without you, Jenna."

"Y-you mean you want to marry me?" Jenna asked, quickly lifting her head to face him while unconsciously holding her breath.

"Yes, Jenna. In the future, when we are older…" Isaac trailed off, staring into her eyes.

Jenna couldn't help herself. As soon as the words left his mouth, she quickly turned, leaning more heavily against him and seeking his mouth out with her own, desperately wanting to show that she too wanted to be together like that. As the couple became lost in the kiss, Jenna failed to notice her leg slipping from its precarious position on top of the tree branch…

**End Flashback**

_Isaac shuddered as he remembered her blood-curdling scream as she lost balance and fell from the branch, followed by a thud as she hit a tree branch on her way down and ending with a sickening crack as she hit the ground. Isaac sat there, stunned, the fact that her cry had stopped not even registering. It was only a few seconds later when he heard shouts from the village along with the glow of torchlight that he had snapped back to reality._

_After calling out to the villagers and seeing Jenna carried back to the village as fast as the villagers could, Isaac was escorted back to his house where he explained what happened to his mother and the other villagers, making sure to leave some parts out._

_Isaac quickly approached the house where Jenna had lived since the accident and saw candlelight flickering throughout the house. Reaching the door, he knocked, knowing that Jenna's guardians and the village healer were still awake inside, trying to heal her._

_Moments later, Jenna's adoptive father appeared at the door, "Isaac, come in. Jenna is upstairs in her room. Just knock first."_

"_Thanks," Isaac said quickly as he took of his shoes and ran in, knocking lightly on Jenna's door._

"_Come in," a feminine voice that Isaac recognized as Jenna's adoptive mother called from the other side of the door. Isaac stepped in, eyes immediately falling on the bed where Jenna lay. "Oh, Isaac, come," she said, motioning for the boy to enter._

_Isaac knelt next to the head of Jenna's bed and took her hand, "How is she?" he asked, eyes not leaving the girl who had brought so much joy to his life as she lay motionless in bed._

"_She's okay, but the healer said that she might be out for a while yet…" Isaac's heart gave another painful throb as he heard the news._

'Jenna, I'm so sorry…_'_

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_Isaac crawled back over to Mia when he regained his senses, holding her cold body close to his as, for the second time on this journey, Isaac stared at the girl that he loved, dead in his arms. Only this time, Isaac knew from the knowledge he had gained early on when his djinn had taught him about powerful summons that Mia's soul was broken._

"_Mia…"_

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Chapter Thirteen – Lover's Requiem

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"How… How… did we lose?" Saturos asked softly, disbelief and shock clear in his voice. He could not remember his fight as a dragon, but standing there, feeling completely drained and with the kids from Vale still standing…

"We are superior in every way, but still we were defeated…" Menardi said to no one in particular as Saturos's strength finally gave way, falling back into Venus Lighthouse's crevice. Seconds later, Menardi also fell backwards into the depths of Venus Lighthouse.

"We did it! We won!" Garet cheered as he saw his enemies fall down into the crevice in the lighthouse.

"We beat them… but have we really won?" Ivan asked. Garet turned towards him, planning on berating him for spoiling the victory, but upon seeing his haunted face, Garet turned back towards the lighthouse stairs, finding Isaac holding Mia's limp body. Garet quietly gasped, having temporarily forgotten about Mia after seeing Saturos and Menardi fall.

"Isaac," Garet said quietly as he began to walk towards his friend, only to be stopped by Ivan's hand. "Get out of my way, I need t-"

"You need to do nothing." Ivan said, an air of finality and utmost seriousness in his voice. Garet stood rooted to the spot, stunned. Ivan had always had a playful tint to his voice, he had never spoken this seriously before. Once Ivan saw that he had Garet's attention, he continued, "Garet, leave Isaac to mourn. He deserves that much from us, especially after all of the hard times we gave him and Mia." Garet nodded and they both turned from Isaac, giving the Venus adept some privacy with the fallen girl. Ivan then pulled out a potion and helped heal Garet before using some for himself. While they could heal and eventually recover, not even the water of life could bring the dead back.

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Isaac stared at the girl in his arms, trembling as irrational thoughts began filling his mind. '_What if I… No, that won't work… Could I..? No! But then…_' Isaac stopped as his mind remembered another situation to this one, one that had happened not long ago…

"_Master, you cannot! Her soul is too damaged and you don't have enough psynergy to sustain it! You _will_ die if you try t-_" Flint was cut off as Isaac concentrated on his power.

"Then my life is forfeit…" Isaac said, using his psynergy to forcefully remove all of his djinn from his body to stop them from interfering as he prepared himself. His whole body burned with a desire to save Mia, and it began to glow golden of its own accord, Isaac's unconscious psynergy activating by itself. Isaac released his breath as he prepared himself to cast the most difficult spell known by a Venus adept. Drawing a breath, he finally muttered the one word that meant the difference between both life and death… "_Revive._"

Immediately, Isaac and Mia were covered by a shield of golden Venus psynergy. Isaac did not even notice that he barely had to concentrate as he did when he first cast revive. Seconds later, the shield began glowing brighter at a faster rate than Isaac's djinn had ever seen, even back when the greatest Venus adepts had mastered and practiced the art.

Inside the shroud of Venus psynergy, Isaac saw the blinding flash accompanied by the absolute darkness that he had seen before. Placing Mia's body down, Isaac looked up, seeing Mia's soul split completely in half, both pieces losing Mia's life essence at a faster rate than normal. Isaac raised his hands to either side of his heart and closed his eyes, concentrating for the first time since he had begun the spell. Isaac felt the release of purified Venus psynergy leave his body and, opening his eyes again, saw them quickly encircle and stop Mia's soul from deteriorating. After the release of energy, Isaac began to feel slightly drained, but still he pushed onwards, beginning to release particles of his soul from within his body.

Isaac's soul began to attach to the ends of Mia's soul before drawing the two pieces slowly together. Isaac continued, feeling weaker and weaker as he releases more of his soul, but he pushed onward, his mind determined not to let Mia die, not when he knew he had the power to save her. Mia's soul changed color before his eyes, starting as the icy blue that he knew before slowly changing, back to the bright sea green that he had seen once, before going one step further, changing to emerald. Isaac felt a pain in his chest as he continued to add to the green sphere. The more energy he gave out the sharper the pain became, but he pushed forward until he felt that her soul was fully healed. Isaac's eyes began to droop from fatigue as he attempted to refocus his energies on the barrier surrounding the now fully repaired soul. '_I am so close, just a little more…_' Isaac thought as the pain in his chest grew and his eyes drooped even farther.

Isaac poured his remaining energy into making the sphere collapse around Mia's soul before concentrating again on it, using some of the purified energy to cancel out his soul. Because he had given so much, he had to hold on for that much longer because this was one of the most delicate parts; if he rushed this, he could easily damage Mia's soul beyond hope of redemption. Isaac's wariness began to overpower him and he felt the control he had over his power diminishing even more with each second. As he continued the painstakingly slow process, he felt his energy reserves depleting fast. Knowledge that he had to return Mia's soul now or risk losing her forever came as his reserves reached a critical level. Isaac quickly changed his focus to using his pure energy to move Mia's soul back to her body even as the soul flashed, revealing it's pale blue form shining anew once again.

Isaac fell forward, his chin hitting the ground and his right arm extended, as if willing the soul to move down faster. '_Mia's soul… why does one fragment look… green?_' Isaac's mind barely registered as the soul inched ever closer to her body. The last thing Isaac remembered before passing out was Mia's soul, surrounded by his psynergy, floating lazily in the air less than half an inch from her body, glowing a brilliant icy blue with a distinct sea green spot near the bottom…

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Ivan and Garet stopped as they felt a burst of Venus psynergy from behind them. Turning quickly, they saw Isaac's djinn fly out from his body, before a barrier of Venus energy formed around the Venus adept. The barrier grew brighter and brighter before flashing and burning a solid gold, just like they saw when fighting Deadbeard.

"That's right! Isaac can revive her!" Ivan cried happily.

"_No, Isaac cannot… Nobody can revive her fully now. Even if they had enough energy and willpower to donate enough life essence to her, they could never integrate the soul and join it to her body, especially after using his powers in battle. Either he fails to rejoin her soul in which case the barrier shatters, breaking Isaac's soul as well, or he does not integrate his soul into hers fully._" Flint spoke to the two adepts.

"_What happens if he does not fully integrate his soul to hers?_" Ivan asked, dread filling him.

"_And why wouldn't he have enough energy to do it? He is right outside of the beacon! I can feel some of my power returning and I'm only partially aligned to Venus, imagine what he is getting!_" Garet joined in.

"_If he fails to integrate his soul completely, Mia's body will not recognize the soul and she will never regain consciousness. She will be effectively dead, even though she will still be able to breath on her own._" Flint sighed, trying to think of an easy way to explain what Garet asked. "_As for why he will run out of energy… The barrier erected by Isaac when he casts revive blocks out everything from this world, even light itself. If it let any energy in, he could never revive someone because random elemental energies would go in and damage or change the soul to a different alignment. If it changes to anything other than Venus psynergy, he would not be able to integrate the soul as he can only cancel Venus energies…_"

Right as Flint finished his explanation, the barrier surged, before it began to weaken. The group watched as it destabilized, its edges getting slightly fuzzy as they felt Isaac's power decreasing rapidly. Everyone watched with their breaths held as they awaited what would happen. Just as Ivan and Garet felt the power diminish to nothing, the barrier collapsed. The two breathed sighs of relief as the barrier did not shatter, and rushed over to the others. Mia was breathing rapidly, but otherwise remained still, eyes closed. Isaac was barely breathing, his energy completely drained.

Suddenly, another wave of Venus energy erupted behind them, causing the lighthouse to shake violently and throwing the two adepts down to the ground.

"Sheba, Nooooo!" a voice rang out from the aerie, causing Ivan and Garet to turn just in time to see Felix jump off the lighthouse…

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A/N: Again, am I not evil? ^_^'


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Hope

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: *send out a messenger* O-Mega Lead would like to apologize for having a dual cliff-hanger. He promises that the next few chapters will not be cliffies and that he does not plan on many more, if any. However, he says that he cannot promise anything. *mob of angry readers shoots the messenger* Hey! Haven't you guys heard not to shoot the messenger? *ducks down again as guns point his way* uhh… Go on and enjoy the chapter? Hehe… A, this chapter, unfortunately, will not be to your liking.

A/N: Content revised.

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_A day had passed, but Isaac still found himself stuck to Jenna's side. He could not bring himself to leave her, feeling responsible for not catching her or doing something to help her, despite assurances that he was not to blame. Isaac's eyes drooped as he stared at the girl. He hadn't slept all of last night and now the lack of sleep was beginning to catch up to him. Isaac didn't even realize when he fell to sleep, but when he did, his dreams were nightmares, filled with images of Jenna falling from the tree, her screams haunting him for the rest of the night._

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"_Jenna… No…" Jenna stirred as she heard her name. She groaned lightly as she groggily opened her eyes. Immediately, she recognized where she was, but couldn't remember how she got here. Looking around for the source of the voice, she saw Isaac with his head resting near the head of her bed. Jenna smiled warmly as she reached over, only to gasp at the pain in her left arm as she tried to raise it. Instead, she reached over, careful not to lay on her arm, and stroked Isaac's golden hair which she liked so much. In his sleep, Isaac relaxed as she ran her fingers through his golden hair, a smile growing on his lips as well…_

_

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_

_Isaac fell forward, his chin hitting the ground and his right arm extending as if willing the soul to move down faster. '_Mia's soul… why does one fragment look… green?_' Isaac's mind barely registered as the soul inched ever closer to her body. The last thing Isaac remembered before passing out was Mia's soul, surrounded by his psynergy, floating lazily in the air less than half an inch from her body, glowing a brilliant icy blue with a distinct sea green spot near the bottom…_

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_Suddenly, another wave of Venus energy erupted behind them, causing the lighthouse to shake violently and throwing the two adepts down to the ground._

"_Sheba, Nooooo!" a voice rang out from the aerie, causing Ivan and Garet to turn just in time to see Felix jump off the lighthouse…_

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Chapter Fourteen – Hope

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Days had passed, yet neither Isaac nor Mia showed signs of waking. Ivan and Garet again spent the night in the Lalivero inn, free of charge courtesy of Faran and Iodem. They both assured Ivan and Garet that they need not worry as they had done a great service to Lalivero.

Isaac's djinn had told Ivan that Isaac's energy was restored with the great wave of psynergy from the beacon firing, but now only needed to recover his soul which would take longer because of the larger amount of life energy he had given. Ivan was relived to see Isaac taking normal breaths once again, unlike before after casting revive, when the only way you could tell he was alive was by sensing his barely non-existent life energy.

Walking back out of the room, Ivan headed downstairs to meet Garet for breakfast and to begin another day of waiting for Isaac to wake.

* * *

Isaac heard a door close, rousing him from his sleep. He felt surprisingly tired, and after remembering what had happened, he wasn't surprised. Looking around blearily, Isaac noticed that he was in one of the rooms that they had before when they stayed a night at Lalivero. Glancing at the bed next to his, Isaac's eyes fell upon Mia.

"_Master Isaac!_" Isaac head a familiar screech followed by a chorus of other greetings.

"_Hey guys, how long was I out?_" Isaac asked as he was temporarily distracted from the girl on the bed by his djinn piling on top of him and knocking him back down.

"_Three days,_" this time it was Granite who spoke.

"_Three days?_" Isaac asked in disbelief, his eyes darting over at his djinn before pale blue hair caught his eye again. "_Why hasn't Mia woken up yet?_" Isaac asked, confused, "_I thought that they woke up right after casting revive."_ The djinn remained quiet until Isaac grew angry with their lack of response. "_Flint?_"

"_Master Isaac… When you healed Miss Mia, was there a portion of her soul that wasn't completely integrated?_" The djinni squawked nervously.

Isaac thought back, trying to remember what had happened. "_Yes… There was a small part that was still sea green… Why?_" He asked tersely, wanting a straight answer.

"_Master, since you didn't fully integrate her soul, her body doesn't recognize it… She will never regain consciousness._"

"_What? Can't I fully integrate it now?_" Isaac asked.

"_No, you cannot alter a soul that is within a body, and to remove her soul while it is like this will permanently damage it._" Flint said solemnly, dreading Isaac's reaction.

Isaac couldn't accept it, '_Mia is gone… forever? Even after I healed her..?_' he thought as he turned to the Mercury adept sleeping peacefully in her bed. '_Mia…_'

Isaac pushed off his djinn before slowly got up and knelt down before Mia, watching as she slept peacefully on the bed. He gently took her hand, causing her to glow slightly golden, which went unnoticed by the adept, '_I love you, Mia._' Isaac stared at her beautiful face, seemingly in a deep sleep, but one that she would never wake from. Isaac couldn't help himself as his eyes welled and he bent over and briefly brushed his lips over hers, the brief contact causing a spark between the two. "Whoa…"

"_What is it, Master Isa-_" Flint stopped in mid-sentence as the golden hue around Mia flared to life, burning brighter.

"M-Mia?"

* * *

Ivan and Garet were just finishing their breakfast when they felt a small wave of Venus psynergy pass through the room. Looking at each other, they both spoke at once, "Isaac!" The two quickly turned and rushed back up the stairs towards the source of the energy.

Upon arriving at the room, they saw Isaac kneeling at the side of Mia's bed, with said girl sitting up, legs over the side and glowing a golden hue. "Mia!" They cried in unison, both happy that the girl they thought was lost forever was once again alive.

"Hi Ivan, Garet," Mia greeted, turning her head to the pair.

"Hey guys," Isaac greeted with half a smile, still stunned that Mia was up after what Flint had said. At the sound of Isaac's voice, Mia turned back to the boy kneeling in front of her as he turned to face her as well.

Ivan watched the two adept's eyes locked and stare into each other's depths. Quietly, Ivan pulled Garet out the door, hand over his mouth to give the two some privacy. Isaac's and Mia's djinn following close behind the two, the same idea in mind.

"What happened, Isaac?" Mia asked, looking down at the golden glow that emanated from her, "I don't remember anything after fighting Saturos and Menardi…"

"Well… They fused together into a giant dragon and we fought them again. Near the end, you cast Boreas and…" Isaac trailed off, looking away, but Mia began to remember.

_**Flashback**_

_As the lens of blue light began to form over her head, she felt a knowledge implant itself in her mind, much like when her djinn taught her new attacks. Mia's eyes widened as she suddenly comprehended why Fizz was so reluctant; but glancing back at the dragon as it attacked her friends, she steeled herself for what she knew she had to do. Suddenly, her djinn pulsed, the immense energy wave from it was almost tangible as it radiated down and through her, the calming Mercury energy setting her mind at ease as she slowly raised her hands, a lone tear falling from her eye. '_Forgive me, Isaac..._'_

* * *

_The beam above her changed from the bright icy blue to pure white, and as power continued to be drawn, Mia felt her soul rip. Instantly, Mia was consumed by a pain unlike any she had felt before while suddenly becoming unable to control her body anymore, even as her body stood strong and continued providing energy to the field._

_**End Flashback**_

"Isaac… you idiot!" Mia yelled as she remembered, "Why do you have to keep risking your life for me? I was willing to accept the consequences of my actions, so why couldn't you leave me?"

Isaac abruptly stood, leaving Mia to blink before she glanced up at the serious look on Isaac's face. "Mia, I don't care if you were willing to; I was not. If there is something that I could do to save you… or any of the others, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I don't want to lose any of you!" Isaac said, grabbing her shoulders which made the glow around her brighten. "What is this?" Isaac asked, curiosity finally getting the better of him.

No sooner had the question left his mouth than the glow intensified before finally fading until it disappeared completely. Isaac looked back at Mia's face once the light dimmed, and froze.

"I don't know, but, it feels warm…" Mia said, the feeling comforting to her. "I-Isaac? What is it?" Mia asked worriedly as Isaac continued to stare.

"Your hair…" Isaac said quickly. Thinking that an explanation was not good enough, he gently pulled Mia up and pushed her in front of a mirror. Once there, Mia gasped, but not out of horror. Bringing her hand up, she gently fingered her hair that now had a small stripe of gold running through it, the color not unlike that of someone she knew well.

"What happened..?"

"I… don't know, but I like it…" Mia said gently, a light blush forming on her face as she toyed with the highlight. Turning around while still looking at herself, she noticed that it was only a small bit that was covered up by her normal hair in the back. Facing Isaac again, Mia smiled, "Thank you, for saving me though, Isaac."

Isaac smiled back at Mia, "You're welcome," but then a thought struck him, "Where are the others?"

* * *

Garet and Ivan sat at a table, waiting patiently for Isaac and Mia to come down.

"One night's watch that they come down hand in hand," Garet said, smirking as he eyed the stairs. Based on the look those two were sharing, he knew something was bound to happen.

"Deal," Ivan said, shaking Garet's hand. He was willing to bet that even if something did happen, they would not advertise it. Just then, Isaac and Mia came down the stairs, and while not hand in hand, they were walking closer together than they would have normally, "I win."

"No fair," Garet pouted as the two approached the table, but reluctantly agreed to pull his shift tonight.

"Hey guys," Mia greeted again as she sat down, Isaac pulling out the chair next to her.

"Mia, what happened to your hair?" Ivan asked as Mia's and Isaac's djinn hopped out from Ivan and Garet before returning to their owners.

"We don't know," Isaac spoke.

Flint, who knew more about revive than the other djinn, looked at Mia's hair, and seemed to go deep into thought. "_Isaac, when you were reviving her, you were unable to fully integrate her soul, right?_" Isaac nodded, "_Then I think that the hair change is a physical manifestation of Isaac's soul. I do not know what else might happen, as Mia should not even be conscious or even alive for that matter; a soul cannot function with a piece missing or a different piece. I will go with Mia until I can say that everything is alright with her. I might also be able to determine what is happening if I am bound to her._"

Isaac looked at Mia who nodded, "Okay."

* * *

Isaac leaned over the edge of the ship, looking up at the moon while enjoying the cool night breeze. It was his turn for watch duty, even though monsters were non-existent in the night hours. Because of this, Isaac could relax and he used this time to think. Over the past few days, they had searched the whole coastline and even searched the lighthouse again to find Felix and Sheba, but to no avail. They also could not find the old boat that Kraden and Jenna were taken to before their final battle with the Fusion Dragon. This wasn't what was on his mind at the moment, however, right now, his thoughts were plagued by another, less pressing but equally as troublesome topic: Mia.

Isaac stared at the moon, imagining the beauty that had been plaguing him more and more, ever since he had nearly given his life to save her again. Ever since having said that he loved her, he had began to wonder about his feelings for her, especially because of all of the old memories that kept flooding his mind at night… '_Why? Why do I still think of Jenna, even though I know… I thought I knew that I loved Mia? Have my feelings changed that quickly..? But why? When I saw Jenna on the lighthouse aerie before we fought the Fusion Dragon, nothing seemed different, so why do I feel so unsure of my feelings towards her and Mia now?_' Questions and more questions kept circulating through Isaac's mind, never getting any answers and causing him more consternation. '_And why has Mia been avoiding me recently? Has her feelings for me changed as well?_'

Standing in a doorway looking out at Isaac from behind, Mia could tell that he was troubled simply from his posture. She had tried to stay away to give him time to deal with Felix's loss, but it had hurt her to avoid him like that. Sighing, Mia made up her mind to stop giving him space and to try to help him the only way she knew how, talking to him. Slowly, Mia began padding forward towards where Isaac was standing by the railing.

"Isaac?" Said boy jumped a little upon hearing the melodic voice that he hadn't heard for days and was the cause of his current unease. Isaac slowly turned, only barely acknowledging her before looking out over the ocean again.

Mia thought it odd, but given the past few days, took it as permission to continue and so stepped up besides him. As she did so however, she felt an uneasy and almost angry aura emanating from him, and took a small, inconspicuous step away. Isaac merely continued staring out over the water, but his eyes were glazed, his thoughts working overtime since she was now standing besides him '_Just go away! I can't take this right now!_' Isaac's thoughts screamed.

"I-Isaac?" Mia asked quietly, feeling his distress increase. Thinking that he hadn't heard her, she spoke again, louder this time, "Isaac?"

"What?" Isaac ground out, his thoughts continuing to rage.

"Is everything alright..? Can I help?" Mia asked timidly now, Isaac's aura now no longer the same comforting glow it used to be for her, but a torrent of power that almost seemed to blast out as she asked those simple questions.

"I'm fine." Isaac said, his voice firm.

"Isa-"

"Go."

"What?"

"Go!" Isaac nearly yelled at her as he turned to face her. He was no longer thinking straight, merely reacting.

Mia gave a quick nod and turned, walking quickly from the deck and back into the cabin, suppressing her tears. '_Wh-what happened?_' Mia tried to reason even as she reached the end of the hall and opened the captain's quarters, which Isaac has generously offered her when they set off. The thought of that gave her no comfort anymore, however, after what had just happened. '_Why is he acting like this?_' Mia broke down in tears as another wave of sorrow hit her…

* * *

Isaac stared after Mia, finally settling down now that Mia was gone, but at the same time, knew that he had hurt her. "Mia…" he said softly as he took a step after her then stopped, '_She probably wants to be alone now…_' Isaac sighed, knowing that this was not what he wanted when confronting Mia, '_Or is it? Don't I want to be with Jenna, like before..? I… I don't know anymore..._'

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A/N: Ya gotta love me… Now, I'm not sure if I will continue the Golden Sun series arc for one more chapter or if I will go to The Lost Age. Either way, expect to find some TLA filler in the following chapters, and prepare for a bumpy ride… Don't worry though, I am a mudshipper at heart.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Once in a Blue Moon

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: I _love_ the title of this chapter, it is _very_ fitting.

A/N: Content revised, and I still love this chapter.

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"Come in!" Mia called when she heard a knock on her bedroom door on the ship. She had just woken up the day after Isaac had yelled at her. "Isaac?" Mia asked gently, surprised as the boy who was plaguing her thoughts slowly stepped into the captain's cabin, closing the door behind himself. "What are you doing here?"

"Mia… I wanted to apologize about last night…" Isaac said as he stopped at the side of her bed, kneeling down so he was almost level with her. "I… had a lot on my mind."

"I-it's okay…" Mia said uncertainly, waiting for him to address why he was here. She could understand saying a small apology but why remain afterwards? After another moment, she finally asked, "What's wrong?"

Isaac looked up and into her eyes at this, an odd emotion burning in them, "Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to…"

"Wanted to what?" Mia asked softly, so gently that Isaac looked away again.

After a moment, he again looked into her eyes, "Mia?" Mia looked at him, waiting for what he was going to say next. "Mia… I love you."

Mia lay in shock as this registered in her mind, '_Is this what he was thinking through before and why he told me to leave? It must be!_' Mia thought, a gentle smile forming on her face. "Oh, Isaac… I love you too," she said, watching as Isaac's face lit up. Seconds later, their faces were only inches away, Mia's body tingling as she felt Isaac's hot breath on her cheek, "Isaac…" she barely managed to whisper out, seconds before she felt his warm lips brush over her own. Mia couldn't describe it, her mind was too dazed to comprehend this moment which she savored as she felt Isaac slowly crawl onto the bed and straddle her.

"Mia…" She heard Isaac say in between kisses.

"Mia…"

"_Mia!"_

_Mia awoke with a start at the voice on the other side of the door which she recognized as being Ivan's. Choking back her emotions and thoughts as cold reality set in, she barely managed to breathe out a quick "Yes?" before tears again ran down her face again._

"_Breakfast is almost ready, you should change and get ready," Ivan said, seconds before she heard footsteps leading away._

_Mia didn't care at all about eating; she was too busy trying to pick herself up after her world had crumbled around her, crushing her. How could the world, even her own dreams be so cruel as to taunt her even though now she was almost certain that Isaac no longer cared for her? What had changed these past few days? Why, after having resurrected her and not leaving her side once since she had woken up, did things suddenly start to change, to the point where now he actually told her to leave him?_

"_What happened between us, Isaac?" Mia asked the room through her tears, looking at the small portion of her hair that was highlighted with gold, the highlight no longer making her feel connected to the Venus adept, "Was this all… Just a lie?"_

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Chapter Fifteen – Once in a Blue Moon

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It was a gloomy day outside, perfect for Mia's mood. She stood on deck looking over the railing at the endless expanse of fog that hung in the air. It had been many days since the incident with Isaac, and over that time, Mia had become slightly withdrawn. The golden highlight that graced her hair had disappeared a while back, having begun to fade since before what happened with Isaac. Mia sighed, depressed; in the end, everything came back to Isaac; her thoughts, measuring time… even her happiness.

Only two weeks ago had Mia dared hope that Isaac liked her as more than just a friend. The time when he nearly gave his life for her again, when he checked up on her, making sure that she was alright, making sure that nothing went wrong and that her soul wouldn't suddenly reject his… She still wondered about that, about what happens when Isaac revives someone, as well as what actually happened this last time that went so drastically wrong as to make Isaac aloof. At the same time, Mia dreaded thinking about what had happened on Venus Lighthouse, because that now marked the time when something had changed between her and Isaac…

Mia frowned slightly as her hand rose unconsciously to her neck, clutching the necklace that she had received from Isaac at Xian…

_**Flashback**_

"_Finally!" Ivan sighed in relief as the group reached the edge of Mogall Forest and emerged into open costal fields._

_Isaac looked at Mia who was smiling radiantly at finally getting out of the dark woods._

"_So, where should we go next?" Ivan asked, turning to their leader._

"_Let's follow the prancing Mars adept for a while," Isaac said, pointing out Garet who had ran ahead after the group reached the clearing, and sure enough, was prancing in the sunlight, going over a hill not too far away._

_Mia giggled slightly as Ivan just burst out laughing, "I will never let Garet live this down!" Ivan choked out in between laughs._

"_Come on guys," Isaac said, restraining his laughter just barely. Finally, however, he glanced at Mia and cracked, chuckling alongside the giggling girl, loving the happiness and mirth that flowed from Mia's eyes._

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"_Welcome to Xian," Mia read from a sign in front of the village, "Isaac, can we rest here for a while?"_

"_Sure, but why?" Isaac asked even though, the group had been traveling without a break since Mercury Lighthouse. They were overdue for a day's rest anyway, but Mia seemed particularly adamant about stopping here._

"_Well, I have heard stories of Xian; the inns have silk sheets in every room, and they have so many other fine jewelry and trinkets… I used to get a few things when traders came to Imil every once in a blue moon." Mia smiled, remembering back when she had been in her village._

"_Well, we should get something to eat and then reserve rooms," Isaac suggested as they stepped foot into the village._

"_Alright!" Garet cried in anticipation, "Food!"_

_The group walked into the tavern and took a seat, Isaac heading up to order food. A few minutes later, he returned with a few plates of chicken on rice._

"_So, what do you think so far?" Isaac asked after a while in an attempt to start a conversation._

"_I think the city looks boring; all of the buildings are the same," Garet griped._

"_Not that, I meant the chicken," Isaac said, earning a few giggles._

"_I like it Isaac," Mia said while grabbing some more chicken with her chopsticks._

"_Too bland," Garet said._

"_Try the green powder, it's a spice, so I've heard," Isaac suggested. Garet poured a lot on, causing the group to stare as he took a bite, then another, then-_

"_HOOOOOOOOOT!!!!" Garet screamed, quickly downing all of the water at the table, but that did little to quench the inferno in his mouth._

"_Garet, there's a stream outside…" Ivan suggested, and moments later, Garet was already outside, lapping up water._

"_Isaac!" Mia said reprovingly, slapping him lightly on the shoulder as the two boys began laughing hysterically._

"_Can I help you?" the owner asked, looking at Mia with contempt, but masking it from the others as he took more orders._

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_After briefly exploring the town, the group came to the inn._

"_We would like two rooms for the night," Mia smiled as she spoke to the innkeeper, cutting off Isaac who had opened his mouth to order._

"_Alright, that will be 40 coins," the innkeeper said, briefly shooting Mia a disproving look that went unnoticed. After Isaac paid, the innkeeper pulled out two keys, handing it to Isaac, only to have Mia grab them and run off._

"_Sorry about her, she's just a bit excited," Isaac explained as he too took off after the others._

_When they were no longer in sight, the innkeeper turned to the chef, "Call the men for a meeting…"_

_Upstairs, Isaac had found Mia to be already lying in her bed, with Ivan and Garet in the room across from them. "Comfy?" Isaac asked after a while from his position leaning against the door frame._

"_Very," Mia smiled, relaxing and running her hands over the silk._

"_I'm going to go out and explore more, you coming?" Isaac asked, turning around._

"_No, I need to rest. It has been too long since I had slept on a real bed." Mia said, closing her eyes._

"_Have it your way." Isaac then headed over to the other's room, "You guys coming?"_

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_Several hours had passed as Isaac looked through the endless stalls of food and other objects. Xian had many interesting and different things, and while he and Ivan were happy just exploring, Garet had decided to go to the dojo to train._

"_So, are you going to get something?" Ivan asked Isaac as they walked to the next stall. He had already spent his allowance of 500 coins on a fruit he liked and a spare pair of robes, just in case._

"_I don't know," Isaac said, looking up at the sky, "It's nearly dark, why don't you get Garet and I'll check this last shop?"_

"_Sure," Ivan said, turning and walking off towards the dojo._

_Isaac turned towards the last shop, a jewelry store, '_Great, there won't be anything for me here…_'_

_Isaac still glanced over the merchandise until his eyes fell on a necklace. "How much for this?" Isaac asked the salesman._

"_That would be one thousand coins, sir." The salesman said._

"_One thousand?" Isaac asked, almost disbelievingly. '_That is twice my budget!_'_

"_Yes, it was cut by one of our most skilled hands who has long since passed, but he cut it from one of the finest stones we had ever seen. Its actual value is twice this, but I am cutting you a deal," the salesperson assured._

_Minutes later, Ivan ran up to Isaac, "I got Garet and headed back to the inn to wait for you, but Mia isn't there, and nobody at the inn has seen her!" he said in a long rush as Garet ran up behind._

"_Come on, we need to find her!" Isaac yelled, running off…_

_

* * *

_

_Mia opened her eyes with her back quite uncomfortable, '_Didn't I fall to sleep on silk sheets?_' Mia's eyes flew open as realization set in. "Where..?"_

"_Have a nice nap?" an unfamiliar voice asked in the gloom._

"_Wha… Who are you?" Mia asked, her voice trembling slightly. She tried to move her hands, only to find them bound to the wall._

"_Nobody of consequence," The voice said, laughing slightly. "Now, we shall begin."_

"_Begin? Begin what?" Mia's voice was small and trembled as she heard more than one pair of footsteps approach her…_

_

* * *

_

"Blizzard!_" Isaac called as he swung his blade down, the ice shards breaking through the heavy door with relative ease. As soon as the attack stopped, Ivan and Garet rushed in with Isaac in toe._

_Isaac glanced around quickly, seeing only two guards who they noticed were the innkeeper and tavern owner. Both Ivan and Garet stepped forward and began to engage the villagers. Looking around, there was only one more doorway, and so Isaac again charged the door wile feeling the hilt of his sword pulse once again, "_Blizzard!_"_

_Again, the attack hit the door, but this time, a few of the shards shot through the door, causing someone inside to scream._

'Mia!_' Isaac though, rushing through the door while preparing a cure well, but his blood turned cold and his healing spell was forgotten as his eyes adjusted to the light. Mia was standing, the only thing holding her up were the leather restraints binding her wrists. What made his blood freeze though were the long lacerations on her back, oozing blood through her torn robes and down her legs. On the ground a little bit away was a man holding a whip with an ice shards sticking out of his back._

_Isaac quickly ran over, kicking the man out of the way and grabbed Mia, holding her gently while using his sword to sever the leather restraints that held her against the wall. Mia whimpered, tears falling from her eyes as Isaac cradled her, hovering his spare hand over her back, "_Cure Well._" _

"_Mia, are you okay?" Isaac asked after casting his healing spell a little longer than necessary after it had healed the many cuts and welts over her body. He felt Mia nod slightly, but she did not calm down._

_Outside the room, Garet and Ivan finished off the guards with ease._

"_Isaac, is Mia alright?" Ivan asked, rushing in with Garet at his heels._

"_She's fine," Isaac said, as Mia cried into his shoulders, "She just needs some time."_

_Ivan nodded and turned to Garet, "Come, let's take these guys outside and inform the other villagers." Garet nodded and after taking one final look at Mia and Isaac, left._

"_Hey, do you want to go outside?" Isaac suggested when Mia was calmer. She nodded, still not having spoken, but Isaac shrugged it off. "Come," Isaac said and guided her outside. Walking south back towards the inn, Isaac detoured to the right, bringing Mia to the empty and shaded arbor. Outside, fireflies flew around, providing a lightshow in the moonlit grove. Isaac picked a bench facing the moon and set Mia down besides him, simply holding her for support as she regained her strength. After a few minutes at the peaceful scene, Isaac felt Mia relax slightly._

"_Isaac," Mia said slowly, regaining her voice, "Thank you."_

"_It's nothing Mia," Isaac said with a small smile before his face turned serious, "Do… do you know why they attacked you? Can you tell me what happened?"_

_Mia looked into his eyes, loving the concerned furrow to his eyes as he waited for an answer. "T-they said that I should learn my place. They said a woman should let the man lead… Then men t-touched me and whipped me, and were threatening to… to-"_

"_It's alright, you don't have to say it," Isaac soothed her, knowing full well what they would probably have done. Instead, he wrapped his arm tighter around her waist while using the other to hold her head, trying his best to comfort her and make her feel safe again._

"_But, he didn't… He was getting ready when I heard the guards yell, and then you came in and knocked him back," Mia said, her voice wavering slightly as she remembered what had almost been; even so, she felt dirty now. "Isaac, you don't… hate me… do you?" Mia asked, turning to the boy._

_Isaac's eyes fell open in surprise and wonder at that, "Mia, why would I ever hate you?" he asked, genuine confusion laced in his steady and calming voice._

_Mia looked away from his intense stare, unable to meet it anymore for feeling shame, "It's just, the men who took me… They said that I was too aggressive and that I should learn my place… They said men only like submissive woman." Mia finished, reveling in the fact that she felt she could ask Isaac this and know that she wouldn't be ridiculed for listening to what they said._

"_No Mia, I like that you think for yourself and don't depend on me for everything… Our relationship would be boring if we never argued or you always gave into what I want. Besides," Isaac said, looking away to hide his blush that was forming from what he had just said, "I've already done a few things that I never would have tried, thanks to you. I am grateful for you, Mia."_

"_Oh, Isaac…" Mia said, his sweet words making her forget about the ordeal. Mia leaned back into Isaac's embrace and relaxed fully for the first time since her ordeal, simply enjoying the silvery, calm moonlight pass through the tree leaves and into the arbor. Mia watched one of the fireflies make its way around, lighting up in one spot only to dull and relight seconds later in another._

_Isaac watched the idyllic scene in silence before remembering what he was doing prior to Mia's capture. "Mia?" he asked, turning to the girl by his right arm._

"_Hmm?" Mia asked, not wanting to ruin the moment._

"_I… have something for you," he said, reaching into a pocket sewn into the clothes he wore under his armor. At this, Mia turned slightly to see what he was doing. "I saw this at a jewelry stand and it reminded me of you," he said sheepishly, holding out his hand from which dangled a necklace._

_Mia gasped, the necklace had a thin silver chain which glowed in the moonlight as Isaac held it in front of her. Attached to it was a beautiful, deep blue stone, delicately crafted into the shape of a crescent moon. Mia took the necklace with trembling hands, afraid that she might break the beautiful piece of jewelry._

"_It's lapis lazuli," Isaac said, "It's meant to bring good luck."_

"_I-Isaac…" Mia said breathlessly as she stared at the pendant. It was carefully carved into the shape of a crescent moon without any rough sides or edges. The design reminded her of the sigil that was carved into the archway of her sanctum back in Imil. The moon was one of the deepest blues she had ever seen and it was speckled with golden flakes throughout, "It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen… Thank you…" Mia said, astonished that he would even bother to buy her something when he could have gotten something for himself. Unable to help herself, she clutched the necklace in her hand gently as to not stress the pendant and hugged Isaac as tightly as she could._

"_It's nothing, Mia," Isaac smiled, awkwardly returning the embrace, he had never gotten a girl a gift before, especially not a girl like Mia, and he still felt unsure about what Mia would allow him to do, even though his instincts told him to embrace her tightly as well._

_Mia smiled in Isaac's arms, '_And I was worried about ruining the moment, when this is even better._' Mia thought, feeling completely safe and happy in Isaac's arms._

_**End Flashback**_

Mia smiled sardonically at the memory, '_I'm sure he was just trying to cheer me up after what happened,_' Mia thought as she removed the necklace and held it in her hands, thinking about throwing it into the fog shrouded sea. Just as she was about to, she stopped, '_What am I thinking? What is wrong with me?_' Mia said, tears forming in her eyes, '_Even if it didn't mean anything to him, it hasn't lost its meaning to me… It helped me through what had happened and all of the things that had happened since then,_' Mia shed a tear at the thought of even considering throwing it away, '_I can't believe I almost did that… What is happening to me? Isaac…_' Mia thought, vainly trying to figure out once again why Isaac left, the one constant that seemed to be the only thing that could hold her life together. Mia looked out from the boat and laughed sadly, 'I_ am the same, lost in the fog at sea, unable to find my bearings…_'

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A/N: From my overly-analytical mindset, this story is dripping with irony… Do tell me if you enjoyed the intricacies or if you just thought, "Meh, Lead thinks too much, I just like the storyline."

A/N: This is my first attempt as a full-chapter flashback scene. While it got annoying writing in italics and I am sure you got annoyed reading the whole story in it, tell me what you thought. Did you like the flashback idea or were you jumping around the story, trying to find out why Isaac didn't just break the door down with a well placed ragnarok? Finally, the next chapter will most likely be about The Lost Age, and while I have already asked, would you rather it have some action with Felix before Jupiter Lighthouse, or just jump into the good stuff? Just know, that while you all may not like it, I am a big proponent of Jenna having a part in all Golden Sun fics, mudshipping or not. Because of this, Jenna is not just going to roll over and die, nor give up on her claim to Isaac, so be aware that our favorite fire witch will be a larger part of Isaac's and Mia's relationship now that the group will be rejoining. The only question is, when?

A/N: As a disclaimer, just because everyone who reviews votes for one thing, it does not mean that will happen the next chapter or at all. If I feel the need to go differently, whether to conserve plot integrity, to set something else up or to do something just on a whim, I will without hesitation. My muse controls me when writing and this is merely to see what the opinions or my reviewers are. As for those who read but don't review…

A/N: Last note, I swear! This current update speed in not maintainable. Me writing this much was in large part due to the once in a blue moon fluke of a lot of spare time, my muse being hyperactive with ideas and no homework and low stress. While you all can enjoy it now, expect the next update to be no earlier than next weekend, most likely though, it will be longer, unless this chapter's namesake occurrence happens again. I hoped you all enjoyed the three update weekend, and please review, both on the story and the content in my messages above.


	16. Chapter Sixteen: The Lost Age

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: I have thought long and hard about how to start this new arc for the group… I first thought '_Maybe it would be cool to have some time with Felix's group,_' but then, I personally hate Felix, so he will always be subordinate to Isaac (not that he will ever think that way). I then briefly considered having Isaac go through the puzzles and problems that Felix went though, but, after thinking of a battle scene in my mind…

The three large gorillas in The Great Gomba Statue roared in challenge as Isaac walked up to them. Yawning, he lightly tapped his Gaia Blade against the ground, "_Quake._" After being thrown around by the attack, the gorillas keeled over from the immense power…

Somehow, I didn't think that would work out too well. So, after trying out more ideas, I came to the conclusion: Do what I always do (you all would love to know that, ne?) So, by this time, I have only chosen the preface and title, enjoy whatever the following chapter may be and have as far as a plot.

A/N: Content revised.

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'What is happening to me? Isaac…_' Mia thought, vainly trying to figure out why Isaac left, the one constant that seemed to be the only thing that could hold her life together. Mia looked out from the boat and laughed sadly, '_I am the same, lost in the fog at sea, unable to find my bearings…_'_

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_Mia sighed as they again advanced up the lighthouse. Since they picked up on Felix's trail, Isaac hadn't been acting as weird towards her, but he still seemed more distant than they once were. Despite this, they acted neutral towards each other which helped relieve some of the group's tension and allowed them to keep moving on. They were sure that they had caught up to them since the lighthouse hadn't been lit yet. Walking out of a doorway and past a weird tile on the ground, Mia and Garet took the lead and walked out toward the middle of the lighthouse when suddenly they heard a click from behind…_

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Chapter Sixteen – The Lost Age

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"Isaac… I'm sorry… I can't take any more…" Ivan groaned out to the left of Isaac. They were fighting Agatio and Karst on the platform one level below the aerie after having been split up by the lighthouse trap.

Isaac quickly looked over to his comrade, "Keep it together Ivan!" he shouted as Ivan finally succumbed to Karst's assaults. When Isaac turned to see how Ivan was doing, however, Agatio struck.

"_Rising Dragon!_" He yelled, unleashing his psynergy on the unprepared adept. Isaac winced as the fangs of the fiery dragon bit into him before he was lifted on a smoldering jet of flame which burned him as he was lifted past the aerie in height before the dragon's head exploded, further injuring the Venus adept and causing him to drop to the ground. Isaac could not prevent himself from falling unconscious as the hard tiled floor of the platform cracked under the impact of his body falling, but the sickening cracking sounds of breaking bones were not lost to the other adepts.

"Isaac!" Mia cried out when she saw the boy fall after the explosion, but her cry was carried away by the rushing winds of the Lighthouse. The winds barely dulled the sickening crack as the boy landed on the platform, causing Mia to wince, worry etched onto her face.

"They are going to kill Isaac!" Sheba cried as Agatio approached the adept with his fist glowing a deadly red with Karst following not far behind.

"No, they aren't! I'm not about to let that happen!" Jenna said determinedly before running over with Felix.

Agatio and Karst stopped when they felt the presence of more adepts on the platform. Seeing the look in Jenna's eyes, Karst sighed, "Oh, great… Are you going to betray us now?" she asked them, "Typical…"

"Isaac has proven to be a greater foe than we'd imagined. We can't let him live," Agatio stated, his fist flaring even brighter.

"Consider how powerful those two were without the aid of a water adept. We have to finish them," Karst concluded, raising her scythe slightly in emphasis.

"If you want them, then you are going to have to face us first!" Jenna challenged while sneaking a glance at the unconscious Venus adept, the sight of him exciting and frightening her as he lay on the ground, unmoving.

"We are too injured to fight, Agatio, we haven't much choice…" Karst trailed off, lowering her weapon again.

"Karst, no!"

"Agatio, if we fight Felix now… We will be destroyed.

"Isaac killed your sister! Where is your anger!?" Agatio goaded Karst.

"I am filled with rage, but not so much as to be blinded by it."

"What, then?" Agatio asked, anger clear in his voice, "Do we give up?" he spat the last two words out. At Karst's silence, Agatio sighed, "Fine! But this is not the end!" With that last promise, Agatio lowered his burning red fist and absorbed the psynergy.

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After Felix left with Agatio and Karst, having negotiated the lighting of the beacon with the two, Jenna rushed over to Isaac, quickly using Spark to revive Isaac.

"Isaac! I don't know how you survived that attack, but I'm so glad you did… We're going to help you… We're going to heal you…" She said softly as she gazed at the blond adept laying on the ground before her. Gently, she raised his head onto her lap and concentrated on her healing powers, "_Healing Aura!_" she cried, sending her psynergy into Isaac and healing him.

Isaac groaned, the fire psynergy was helping him, but almost seemed to burn him as Jenna focused too much power into her spell too fast, trying to rush it. "Are you feeling any better?" Jenna asked as she continued the aura.

Isaac nodded, "I'm okay, go help Ivan."

Jenna reluctantly stopped and gently lowered Isaac's head to the ground before turning to the wind adept.

"How are we going to help Garet and Mia up?" Sheba asked as she opened a potion and gave Ivan a small sip as Jenna cast a simpler spell on him. "_Aura!_"

At this, Kraden smiled, "I have an idea!"

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"Ready? On three! One… two… three!" Kraden called as he helped pull the rope with Mia on it up from the bottom. Earlier, Sheba had jumped down and helped pull Garet up, then tied him, letting the others pull him up to the more stable platform. Mia had insisted Sheba go next as she was fine being last.

Just as they finished pulling Mia up, the lighthouse shook violently and a blinding light flashed from the aerie.

"Just in time," Mia smiled as she looked around at the others. Her smile faltered when she saw Jenna supporting Isaac, who still looked worn out after having helped pull everyone up. The thing that made Mia falter though, was the kisses that Jenna stole on Isaac, on his hair, his cheek… '_How dare she take advantage of him when he's half asleep!_' Mia marched over to the two, but steadied her gait and removed the frown from her face when she got closer. "How is Isaac?" She asked, managing to keep a neutral tone.

"He's fine, he just needs to rest a while," Jenna said, sitting down against the wall and cradling Isaac close to her body.

"Why, didn't you heal him?" Mia asked, surprised.

"Yes, but he still needs rest to fully recover," Jenna said, looking at the azure-haired girl with pity, '_Isaac had to deal with her his whole trip? I bet he's glad he caught up to us; this girl is slow._'

Mia smirked, reading Jenna's look, '_She doesn't know what she is doing… She does not possess the techniques nor the skill that I do at healing. I feel bad for her group,_' kneeling down before Isaac, Mia closed her eyes.

"What are you doing? I said I already healed him and his friend," Jenna said, starting to get angry at the dense girl as she laid her hands on _her_ Isaac.

Mia extended her concentration to Ivan as well before opening her eyes, "Healing them. You apparently did not do very well as they are not standing. _Wish Well!_" With that, her eyes glowed blue as, blue particles flowed out from Mia and into Isaac and Garet before disappearing, being absorbed into their bodies.

Isaac sighed heavily as he felt a familiar cool wave wash over him, healing the burning he felt and feeling his energy return. Opening his eyes, he saw Mia sitting to his right, "Mia…" It was then that he noticed the girl who loomed over him and who was holding him, "Hey Jenna." Isaac then quickly disengaged himself and stood, "Thank you for healing me, you two."

"Not a problem," Mia said with a smile, hoping that he would again look at her as he used to, but it was not to be. Jenna, on the other hand, stared at Isaac in shock as he smiled at her then turned his attention to Ivan.

"How did you..?"

"I am a healer from the Mercury Clan. Inexperienced healers from the Mars and Mercury clan can only heal superficial injuries, but only experienced adepts can heal and restore someone." Mia answered, smirking.

"What about Venus and Jupiter?"

"Their skills only heal external injuries, though they do so more effectively than we can,"

Mia finished as she turned to Isaac again, only to find him with Ivan at his side.

"Why isn't Felix down yet?" Ivan asked, looking at the others.

"I'll go check on him," Jenna said, quickly leaving the aerie, feeling completely incompetent and inadequate to heal anymore and even more so, worried for her brother. '_Isaac seems preoccupied anyway, I will have time to talk to him later._'

Sheba sighed as she watched the confrontation between the other two woman, '_Jenna is not going to be happy,_' Sheba thought as she watched the girl's face contort into a frown. Just then, she felt a darkness form in the back of her mind, "Something bad is happening to Felix and the others, I can feel it. I must help them!" she quickly said before dashing off after Jenna.

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"Isaac wasn't the only surprise. They were all far more powerful than I'd expected." Karst said, panting after Sheba's last-ditch effort to take them out with Thor.

"Don't worry, Karst! We'll win in the end…" Agatio said arrogantly. Felix moved slightly at this as if to refute it, his anger at being defeated giving him strength.

"I can't believe they are still alive after this! The pests!" Karst complained, kicking Felix in the chest, eliciting a groan from the near unconscious boy.

"If we stay here much longer, Isaac and the others will come! We should leave!" Agatio said in haste, seeming more scared of Isaac than of the defeated Felix. Just alone, Isaac was easily twice as skilled as the downed boy.

"You are right, though I hate to leave these traitors; treason deserves death!" Karst said, aching to finish them with her scythe, but upon hearing voices from below, she turned and fled with Agatio to the elevator.

"What's happened?" Isaac asked as he climbed up the stairs to see Felix and the others knocked out on the aerie.

"It seems they fought with Agatio and Karst…" Kraden said as he looked sadly at the group which he had traveled around Weyard with.

"I had a bad feeling after Sheba left, just as she had. I hate it when I am right…" Ivan trailed off, shaking his head at the scene. From above, they heard a groan.

"Felix, you're alive!" Kraden called happily.

"Mia, he needs healing, quickly! There's still time!" Isaac ordered. Mia frowned, but complied with Isaac, turning and attending to Felix and the others.

"If you save Felix, he will tell you everything…" Kraden assured. With that, Mia got to work, healing Felix, Sheba, Piers and deliberately leaving Jenna for last.

"All right, Felix! We want to know what's going on!" Isaac called, facing his childhood friend.

"It's quite complicated, Isaac. There are a number of extenuating circumstances." Kraden interjected for Felix, even though the leader seemed less than willing to cooperate.

"What are you talking about, Kraden?" Garet asked, turning to the older man.

"Look, I don't think any of us are in any shape for another fight right now." Ivan said upon seeing the tired look on everyone's faces.

"What do you mean, Ivan?" Isaac asked, ready to fight again thanks to Mia's healing abilities.

"I'm just saying that we should get ourselves back to Congito and sort things out there." Ivan suggested.

"That's a sound plan, Ivan… I fully agree." Kraden supported. Everyone else nodded, but Felix obstinately disagreed.

"We have no reason to explain ourselves. I will only return to Congito long enough to ready my ship before we leave." Felix said, eyes blazing with anger at the others. '_I will not let him join our group. I have heard of my sister's and his love for each other and I will not allow it._' Felix frowned, '_Besides, were he to join us, I might have to share command, something I will not relinqui-_'

"He's right, Felix. It's time we explained ourselves to them. We should go to Congito," Jenna said, breaking into his thoughts. Felix watched as the others nodded and frowned. He could not force them all to leave when they seemed to want to meet with the other group… "We'll be there, Isaac. I promise. I hope you still trust me," Jenna finished, '_And, I hope you still trust me with your heart…_'

"I've never stopped trusting you, Jenna. I'll be waiting for you in Congito." Isaac found himself saying, but after thinking on it, found them to be true. Turning, he left with the others in toe. Jenna felt almost as happy as she had before when she had been with Isaac.

Felix dropped his head as Isaac left, '_He didn't even bother addressing me, he only spoke to Jenna! I will not allow Isaac to take over all that I have worked to get… I will not allow him to sully my sister with his hands anymore!_'

"_I have never stopped trusting you, Jenna._" To that girl, it promised so much, she could not wait to meet with them again. To another, a blue-haired water adept, the words rang in her head, bringing only more pain and uncertainty.

Slowly, tears formed in Mia's eyes, '_Was what we had… What we shared… Was all of it only deceit? Isaac, am I nothing to you?_'

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A/N: So, I popped in the Golden Sun game and found this side if I lost the battle against Agatio and Karst on Jupiter Lighthouse Aerie. I found it quite cool as I never considered trying to lose before. That inspired my muse to write this out, as it provides amazing framework for my story to come. I have not taken the time to read through it the second time as I usually do, since I want to post this and make it four fast updates, something I think would be quite cool to have done once.

A/N: So, what do you think concerning Mia? I think she's been having a rather bad spot of luck, especially now that Jenna will be around… I think this will be quite interesting as I still am not sure about when I will bring the three to confront their issues together or what I will do concerning the Mia/Isaac/Jenna issue we have. When I do, however, will be dependant solely on me and my muse…


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Trial of Position

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: I thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments, but I am not a big proponent of wasting some reader's time to answer reviews directly, but at any rate, do not always expect answers if you do post anonymously from this point on. is a site where you can register for free and hide your email, identity, etc. so I will answer questions and comments through PM's from now on. Sorry Anri, this goes for you as well. As my last response, I do not like to write one-shots (nor read them for the most part) because I prefer the longer stories where you can develop a plot, characters and whatever else. I will say that I am going to have a post-TLA story where fluff will be on the front page, but I do so like a long journey to happiness; it is more than 3/4ths the fun!

A/N: This chapter will seem a bit OOC, mostly with Felix being an idiot, but it was needed for the plot.

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_Jenna couldn't wait; tomorrow they were going to finally meet up with Isaac and his group. The problem with that was that she also couldn't fall to sleep now. Jenna tossed and turned in her bed, daydreaming about what might happen._

"Jenna?" Isaac asked after their groups began to mingle, "Can we talk for a moment… outside?"

Jenna nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. Once outside and around the side of the building, she felt Isaac's hands grab her arms and pin her against the wall. She gasped when she felt him press his body against her own as he lowered his face to her ear.

"I've missed you," Isaac said softly before moving his hands to her hips and leaning back to kiss her. Jenna moaned lightly as she felt his hands travel lower and squeeze her lightly…

"_Can't sleep, Jenna?" Sheba asked as she heard a strange sound come from the girl across the room. She had been making odd noises since they first lay down, and they were beginning to annoy her as she could not fall asleep because of them._

"_Yeah…" Jenna said quietly, turning to face Sheba across the room._

"_What, thinking of Isaac?" Sheba grinned as she again poked fun at Jenna, remembering the time back in Madra when she did the same thing outside of the mayor's house. "Excited to see him again?"_

"_Of course not!" Jenna yelled, sitting up in bed with her eyes glowing red._

"_Okay, okay, whatever you say." Sheba said with a grin as she turned over, away from Jenna and facing the wall before again attempting to fall asleep._

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Chapter Seventeen – Trial of Position

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Isaac waited outside the house on the hill as he watched the sun beginning to set, setting the sky ablaze with color. Looking out, he was reminded of some of the sunsets he had watched back at Vale.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" A familiar voice said from behind Isaac. Turning, Isaac came face to face with the girl that he had been waiting for, the girl that he had fought across half the globe for, the girl who still managed to capture his feelings, even if they weren't the same as before.

"Jenna…" Said girl smiled and closed the distance between them, hugging him tightly.

"Isaac… I missed you so much," Jenna said as she felt him return her embrace before raising her teary eyes to the boy who had been in her every waking thought since the day she was taken by Saturos and Menardi. Unable to wait any longer, she quickly pushed up onto her tiptoes and kissed the Venus adept. Isaac was too shocked to do anything as Jenna continued to kiss him more heatedly. A soft gasp that neither heard issued from around the corner of the building before a blue clad girl ran off into the ruins.

Finally, Isaac got over the shock of Jenna kissing him again and pushed her back gently. He was surprised to feel that he didn't yearn for her anymore, the flame that she had once ignited within him now quenched. Jenna looked up at Isaac surprised, but unlike him, every fiber of her being once again ignited in desire.

"Isaac?" Jenna said breathlessly as a look of hurt flashed through her questioning eyes.

"Jenna, I'm sorry…" Isaac breathed out, looking for the right words to say, to tell her how he felt. "It's just that-"

"It's that girl, isn't it?" Jenna said more than asked, her confusion turning to anger. "I saw how she looks at you."

Isaac couldn't answer Jenna and merely looked away. Taking his silence as a yes, she became even angrier at the blue haired girl, "How could you like someone so weak? She probably cannot even take care of herself, let alone anyone else! What do you see in her?" she demanded. When Isaac remained silent again, Jenna turned and stormed off, tears stinging her eyes.

Isaac stared after Jenna for a while, '_That could have gone better, but… That is what I wanted to talk about. I guess my feelings for her really have changed,_' he thought, touching his lips for a second before his hands again fell to his sides. In a way, he felt sad about losing what he once had, but he was also relieved.

Looking back at the blood red sunset, Isaac sighed, '_But what about Mia?_'

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The next morning, the two groups again met, this time to organize and decide on a leader.

"Okay, now that we have the djinn and items sorted, we need to decide on our group leader," Jenna said, walking to the front of the group. "The two obvious choices are Isaac or my brother, but how are we going to choose?"

"How about we go with the eldest? I can definitely lead better than Isaac," Felix said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Um, how about we all vote instead?" Ivan asked, not quite trusting Felix yet.

"We don't even need to. I have more experience since I traveled with Saturos and Menardi while Isaac was still a toddler!" Felix said, anger beginning to seep into his voice.

"Why don't we let Felix lead for a while then I'll take a turn after a few days?" Isaac suggested, ending the argument. Felix smirked, confident that he would lead the group the best. '_He probably just wants to back out quietly, hoping the others will forget about them taking turns. Still, just to be on the safe side..._'

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It had been three days since Felix had become leader; three days too many for most of the group. In trying to be the best leader, Felix had the group pick up their pace so they could reach their destination faster and thus be more successful. Unfortunately, since the time they had landed on Gondowan, they still hadn't made it to Magma Rock, with Felix refusing to acknowledge that he was lost.

'_Damn, I figured that I would be able to get us there and find something to power the Loho cannon… We went to the northern reaches before and saw the giant ice block that stood in the way, so I figured I could get a head start before Isaac got a chance to lead. We are taking too much time eating again,_' Felix thought, frowning as he quickly finished the rest of his food. "Okay guys, wrap it up, we have to get going!" Felix said only five minutes after breakfast began.

"No." Mia said, finally getting fed up.

"No?" Felix asked with an edge to his voice.

"No, we have been going almost nonstop and with very little sleep, I am not going to finish eating after just sitting down!" Mia said, turning back to her food.

"In case you have forgotten, I am the leader, not you, so we are leaving, NOW!" Felix yelled at Mia.

Isaac had been patient with Felix's rush for the past three days and with his refusal to tell everyone what they were doing in the heart of Gondowan, but yelling at Mia was the last straw for him. Standing up, Isaac walked in front of Felix, blocking Mia from his view. Said girl felt a familiar emotion stir within her, but she kept it at bay, instead turning back to her plate filled with nuts and berries. '_He won't even let us try to fish, saying it'll take too long. He told us that we should pick nuts and berries that we find while walking…_'

"I am taking over as leader now, Felix." Isaac said firmly, his eyes glowing slightly gold, daring Felix to challenge him.

"You are not, I am not giving it up just yet!" Felix again shouted, the thought of Isaac having been with his sister and now attempting to usurp him fueling his anger.

"Then I challenge you." Isaac said, walking up to stand face to face with Felix. They stared into each other's eyes before suddenly a cloud formed over their heads, dousing the two with water.

Mia, Ivan, Sheba and Garret burst out laughing, as Piers grinned mischievously on the other side of the camp, causing Mia to giggle and Isaac to chuckle a bit. Felix remained the only one still outwardly angry.

"But, maybe that isn't a bad idea, Isaac, Felix," Ivan said once the laughter died down. "If you two fight, you can determine the one who is more experienced."

"Fine," Felix said after a while. '_This would be a perfect chance to get Isaac…_'

"Alright, then we will need some rules," Piers said. "I suggest you fight with only your psynergy, swords and djinn. Is that acceptable to you both?"

"That's fine," Isaac agreed, turning back to Felix.

"Fine."

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"_Spire!_" Felix shouted as he raised his hand, palm up, looking as if he was griping a sphere tightly. Isaac quickly dodged, causing Felix to frown slightly, "_Clay Spire!_" This time, the attack rocked Isaac off balance, giving Felix time to concentrate for his next attack. Imbuing the sword with his Venus psynergy, Felix raised it overhead before he slammed the flat of the blade into the ground, "_Quake Sphere!_"

'_So far according to plan, now then…_' Felix thought as his attack reached where Isaac had landed, throwing him off balance while also beating him up a bit. Leaving his blade in the ground and standing up, he closed his eyes and concentrated, bringing out two fire and two water djinn.

Mia, Ivan and Garret stared at Felix like he was crazy.

"Sheba, what is he doing?" Ivan asked as the djinn formed two levels, Mercury on the bottom with Mars on top and began spinning just like a normal summon.

"Oh, that's right, you guys haven't seen the summoning tablets yet, have you?" Jenna asked, overhearing them. She reached into her bag and pulled out the eight tablets they had collected so far. Just then, they felt the djinn pulse, the air around the two crackling and sparking as the two opposing energy fields touched.

Felix raised his hands and released his psynergy just as the quake sphere died down, but he smirked, it was already too late.

"_I summon Ulysses!_" Felix called as he felt the rush of psynergy flow from his chest and out of his arms into the water djinn's power lens, getting transformed into mercury psynergy. The now light blue beam grew in size before it shot up, the mercury power sparking as it contacted with the fire lens where it grew in size again.

"Whoa, that looks almost as big as when you summoned Boreas with seven djinn, Mia." Ivan said as the Mars powered beam shot into the sky.

The Mercury adept wasn't paying attention to their conversation, however. She stood staring at Isaac, worry etched on her face as she watched the Venus adept's struggle against the quake sphere. '_Isaac…_'

"Yeah, when we first got them, we experimented with the summons. Ulysses uses four djinn of opposing elements, so it is about as powerful as using about six djinn of the same element," Piers said. "Djinn from aligned elements have almost no difference in power and neutral djinn are only slightly more powerful. It's a lot more efficient because it uses the power of different elements to increase power while using less djinn and energy, though it's easier if you are aligned to the first layer of djinn."

Just then, darkness descended on the entire group as the mage Ulysses appeared before Felix in a burst of fire. Following that, sutras appeared and transformed, attacking Isaac who had just climbed out of the quake sphere's crater. The sutras flew at him, Ulysses' magic making them transform so that they bit Isaac. The last sutra stuck to the earth adept, binding him in place. Felix smirked as he quickly prepared another summon, bringing out three earth and two fire djinn.

Mia finally broke away and looked at the tablets, the writing seeming almost familiar to her. Reaching out, she touched one, the inscription light up, knowledge of a summon appearing in her mind. Turning back to Felix, she gasped, "Isaac, watch out!"

* * *

Isaac grinned inwardly as he dodged Felix's spire. He decided to put on a show at first and have a little fun.

"_Clay Spire!_" Isaac again effortlessly dodged the first and faked a fall when the second came jutting out. "_Quake Sphere!_"

'_Does Felix really think that he is hitting me with these attacks?_' Isaac asked as he used his base psynergy to soften the ground and lessen the effects of the attack to almost nil. At the same time, he watched as Felix concentrated, bringing out two Mars and two Mercury djinn. '_What is he doing?_' Isaac wondered as he watched the djinn prepare. The quake sphere stopped just as Isaac felt the djinn pulse.

"_I summon Ulysses!_" Isaac head as Felix began the summon.

'_Ulysses?_' Isaac wondered as the sky darkened and a mage appeared before him in a burst of flame. The mage summoned sutras which then attacked, "_Magic Shell!_" Isaac smiled as the psynergetic damage from the attack was lessened, but it was unable to stop the effects of the last sutra which he felt bind him. Just as Felix finished the summon, the djinn returned to him to recover just as he closed his eyes, preparing another summon as he pulled out three Venus and two Mars djinn.

"Isaac, watch out!" Mia yelled. Isaac looked out of the corner of his eye at the girl, seeing the worry in her face. '_Whatever this summon is, it has Mia really worried… Alright then, time to get serious…_' Isaac thought as he prepared, concentrating on his own Hestia Blade that he was holding behind his back. '_I'll need to act fast; as soon as I can move I need to strike Felix to prevent him from casting the summon. Mia…_'

Isaac continued concentrating as he imbued the blade with Jupiter energy from the Jupiter djinn he had borrowed. Just as the djinn pulsed, Isaac felt the sutra's power over him cease, allowing him to move again. "Now! _Quick Strike!_" Isaac called, using the Jupiter energy to create a strong wind at his back while leaping forward and slashed with his blade, knocking Felix back and disrupting the summon. The djinn returned to Felix, but this time, Isaac was going to end this battle.

As Felix recovered, Isaac placed his hand at the blade before running his hand to the tip. Isaac smiled as he saw the blade glow gold and vibrate behind his hand, remembering when he had learned this attack by accident.

_**Flashback**_

_Isaac was training in a field early in the morning before the others awoke. He had been casting psynergy the whole morning, testing out his abilities to cast in a prolonged battle without his djinn. He had set his djinn down far enough away from him that they wouldn't be affected if he accidentally miscast a spell._

_Isaac felt the beads of sweat running down his face as he prepared another attack, mother gaia. '_This is taking too long, I need to find a faster way to imbue the blade rather than letting the psynergy seep into the blade through the hilt…_' It was then that an idea struck Isaac. Forming energy in his hand, he placed it on the blade and ran his hand over it, causing it to vibrate lightly. '_That never happened before,_' he mused, as he turned from the djinn in case something went wrong with the attack._

"Mother Gaia!_" Isaac called, but immediately Isaac noticed something wrong, '_The fissure is too large, what the..?_'_

"Congratulations, Master Isaac._" Isaac heard the familiar chirp of Flint behind him. "_You have learned the most powerful area Venus attack, grand gaia._"_

"_It didn't seem that much more powerful," Isaac stated, "The fissure is only a foot or so larger and it looked and felt similar to mother gaia."_

"Do you know why you always say the attack name when casting a spell?_" Flint asked._

"_I never thought of it." Isaac admitted._

"It's because even though you can attack by only forming the attack with your mind, calling its name increases the power exponentially. In this case, you were focused on the mother gaia, even though you used the charging technique of grand gaia. Therefore, while slightly more powerful, it still looked like mother gaia._"_

_**End flashback**_

Isaac smirked slightly as he raised his blade high above his head, '_An attack is more powerful if you know it's name_' he thought quietly to himself as he remembered how much he had trained since that day. "_Grand Gaia!_" Isaac called as he slammed the blade's tip into the ground, causing the earth beneath Felix to split open to more than twice the size of mother gaia as the earth's fury was unleashed. Felix was tossed around in the air as boulders easily twice his size slammed into him from all sides.

Isaac didn't take a break, however, as he used his Mars djinn to charge up his next attack, gripping the still buried blade by the hilt and blade closest to the hilt. "_Pyroclasm!_" Isaac called as he released his hand holding the now glowing red blade. He drew the blade through the earth and towards Felix in an ark, breaking through the soil as magma seeped through the ground in the fissure created by the attack before it reached Felix, causing four volcanoes to erupt beneath him as grand gaia was still in effect. Isaac knew that Felix wouldn't be down with only those attacks though.

"Squall!" Isaac called his djinni, using its power on the Hestia Blade and running in to attack Felix just as the Grand Gaia ended. Isaac jumped up and slashed, hitting Felix as he was suspended inside the inferno of psynergetic energy, knocking him out and stunning him.

* * *

Mia fisted the front of her robes with her hand as she watched, getting more worried as Felix prepared to summon Haures. From legend, she knew that Haures was the beast that sunders the darkness, a messenger of death. From the tablet, she learned that his claws contained a deadly poison, something that would end the fight in an instant. Not only that, but Isaac could also be killed if he wasn't immediately treated, something she wasn't sure Felix would allow her to do, given his previous actions.

Jenna also looked on, also worried about Isaac. '_What has gotten into my brother, anyway? He never was this ruthless before…_' Jenna thought as she glanced over at the Mercury adept who had a worried and fearful look on her face, '_What a wimp, she is practically shaking… it's pathetic. How can Isaac have even the slightest interest in someone so insecure and weak?_'

"Now! _Quick Strike!_" Everyone heard as Isaac dashed forward, knocking Felix down and back with a fast sword strike. Mia sighed in relief when she saw Isaac get up and prevent Felix from charging his attack.

Jenna saw Isaac run his hand over the flat of the blade charge his psynergy into his sword, "Well, it looks like it's Felix's turn to feel a quake sphere."

"Not quite," Ivan smirked as Isaac gripped the glowing blade backwards with the bottom of his hand against the hand guard, "Gaia."

"Oh, mother gaia? Felix can do that, too," Jenna said nonchalantly. '_Isaac does charge and use the attack quite differently than Felix does, though._'

"_Grand Gaia!_"

"What?" Jenna asked, quickly turning from the grinning Ivan back to Isaac. "Grand…" she trailed off as the earth beneath Felix split open, revealing the largest gaia blast she had ever seen as it engulfed her brother, '_Felix…_'

"_Pyroclasm!_"

'_These attacks, are Isaac and his group really that powerful?_' Jenna wondered as she again heard the foreign attack name seconds before the earth opened up once again beneath her brother, bathing him in an attack twice the side of Eruption.

"Squall!"

Everyone watched as Isaac sprung forward, leaping up into the air and striking Felix down in a spark of lightning. Felix hit the ground seconds before Isaac who walked over and held the blade to Felix's throat, "It's over."

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A/N: I hope you all enjoyed! I kind of liked this chapter, especially with the Felix fight. I had been wanting to try something like that for a while now, so I hope it's okay. I realize that it is a bit one-sided most of the time, with Felix attacking, than Isaac, etc. so if I do create another one, I'll try to fix that, though it would be easier with more people.


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Conflicting Feelings

Disclaimer: I do not assume to own any of the characters, ideas or situations in this fic, including this chapter and all of the following chapters.

A/N: To bring to light any questions on the last chapter: Isaac was a Ronin at the time with his battle against Felix. To get this character class, Isaac is equipped with Mars and Jupiter djinn and has psynergetic abilities from all three classes. I realize that the attack names are also different, but I prefer "Pyroclasm" to "Magma Storm," same for the other attacks.

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"_Pyroclasm!"_

'These attacks, are Isaac and his group really that powerful?_' Jenna wondered as she again heard the foreign attack name seconds before the earth opened up once again beneath her brother._

"_Squall!"_

_Everyone watched as Isaac sprung forward, leaping up into the air and striking Felix down in a spark of lightning. Felix hit the ground seconds before Isaac who walked over and held the blade to Felix's throat, "It's over."_

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Chapter Eighteen – Conflicting Feelings

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A few hours later after Mia healed Isaac and Jenna her brother, the group set up camp even with some extra daylight still available, though now the sky was lit up with beautiful bands of oranges and reds. Everyone sighed in relief at the relaxation time they once thought an extreme luxury, all thanks to the change in leaders.

Felix was still moping around, convinced that he could have beaten Isaac since he had the younger Venus adept trapped. He ended up blaming his djinn for not having charged fast enough which was why he was now nursing minor burns and still trying to get the dirt out of his hair. '_Just because Jenna has healing spells, doesn't mean that she can heal well… I would have asked Mia, but she didn't even bother to look at me since I yelled at her. She's too headstrong; Isaac gave her too much freedom before they met us._'

Ivan, Sheba, Piers and Garret sat contentedly around a fire, exchanging stories from their travels. Isaac had wondered off a while ago, Jenna had followed a little while later after he had left.

"So, what's up with those two?" Sheba asked after Jenna had left the camp.

"They had a thing for each other back in Vale." Garret answered, reaching out and turning the stick he used as a skewer for his hasenpfeffer.

"It doesn't seem like it now," Sheba noted, "At least, Isaac seems kind of distant towards her now."

This comment piqued Felix's interest, "How so?"

"Well, it's just that Jenna seemed kind of down after meeting with Isaac the night our two groups joined. When she started out, she was very excited to meet him, so I figured it wasn't a happy reunion." Sheba responded, turning to Felix, "Why are you so interested?"

"N-no reason. I was just worried for my sister," Felix feigned indignity at the question.

"Riiight."

"Anyway, what's up with Mia?" Piers asked, bringing up the other Mercury adept in the group. "She seemed kind of down."

"See something you like?" Garret asked, picking up his spit and testing his dinner.

"N-no, it's just tha-"

"Good, because Mia and Isaac kind of had a thing going… Things were tense for a while, but they seem to be getting closer again." Ivan said.

"How do you know?"

"Well, I'm not a wind adept for nothing," Ivan grinned, but then he stood, "Also, I happened to see Isaac buy something before we left Congito." The others watched as the wind adept grabbed Isaac's bag and rummaged around a bit inside of it, "Here we are."

"That's so pretty!" Sheba squealed, seeing the small silver ring. It had a small sapphire in the shape of a teardrop in the middle with small diamonds on either side.

"That's not all. Have you seen that one necklace with the blue moon on it?" Ivan asked. The others nodded, "Mia didn't have that before, but sometime after Xian she wore it and now she never takes it off. That's what Isaac bought when we were exploring the town."

"How can you be sure, though?" Piers asked, feeling slightly disheartened.

"Like I said, I'm not a wind adept for nothing."

"He means mind reading," Sheba said offhandedly, still staring at the stone, "I'm sure Mia will love that ring!"

Nobody noticed the large smile plastered on Felix's face as they continued to discuss Isaac and Mia. '_I guess it was just an old flame. Still though, why did Jenna follow him..?_'

* * *

Mia sat in a moonlight patch of grass near a small river. She watched as the crescent moon's reflection played off the moving currents of water, reminding her of the pendant Isaac had bought for her. She gripped the pendant as she contemplated the one person who had been on her mind almost since she had meet him, "Isaac…"

Mia frowned lightly as she recalled the battle that had happened not long ago, '_I was so scared that he would get hurt, but he managed to escape. He didn't even need that much time to be fully heal… Was Felix holding back? No, that look in his eyes… It looked like he was trying to hit him with all he had. Not only that, but he had tried to keep Isaac from attacking at all and if Isaac had been any slower, Felix could have actually summoned Haures, then Isaac could have been seriously hurt. I need to stop this… I'm just going to get hurt if I keep this up; after all, he has Jenna now… But… I can't accept tha-_'

"Isaac, wait up! Where are you going, anyway?"

'S_peak of the devil,_' Mia thought as she quickly stood and ran behind a tree as Isaac walked slowly into the clearing where she had been sitting moments ago. '_I should just leave…_' Mia was about to turn and leave the two together, when she felt Isaac's aura flare, releasing a minute wave of Venus energy outwards. Mia couldn't explain it, but the power seemed to almost beacon her, telling her to stay. Sighing quietly, Mia crouched down by the foliage and peered at Isaac as Jenna ran up to him.

"I was just going for a walk," Isaac said as he sat down, leaning back against his hands.

"Isaac, I was just wondering…" Jenna knelt down next to him, closer than what most would deem appropriate. "What are we right now?" she asked, turning to the boy.

"Jenna… I jus-"

"It's fine if you want to start over, Isaac, but… I just need to know, are you still interested in me?" She asked, turning over on him and straddling his outstretched legs.

"Jen-" Isaac was cut off as Jenna kissed him. Mia turned away, but this time stayed. She had to know if Isaac really wanted Jenna back.

"No." Isaac said as he pushed Jenna back gently. "Jenna, I thought we already went through this."

"Isaac, what do you see in her? Did you see her almost shaking in fear when Felix was attacking you? She is weak, insecure and pathetic! If we ever fought, even though she has the advantage of being a water adept, she would still lose! How many times have you needed to save her? Isaac, I am so much better than that dainty little-"

"Enough!" Isaac yelled as he shoved Jenna off of himself and stood, his Venus aura flaring, causing his eyes and whole body to glow golden as energy came off of his body in waves. Jenna shank back, suddenly fearful; not of the boy in front of her, but of the power he now had.

Mia was transfixed at Isaac's display of power, '_He never let on that he was that strong, even when he was fighting Felix…_' Isaac quickly dissipated his energy, though he still looked a little angry.

"Jenna, I'm sorry, but I will not let you disrespect her like that. She is a strong fighter and she is needed on the team. You ask how many times I had to save her, but not how many more times over she has saved me and the others. I… We are lucky to have her travel with us even though she could have stayed back in Imil," Isaac said, fully calming down again.

Jenna still frowned but nodded. "Then… where does that leave us, Isaac? Are we still friends?"

"Jenna, I've never stopped trusting you or being your friend… It's just that… I don't feel the same way as we used to, and to be honest, I don't know what I really feel anymore." Isaac said, once again sitting, looking out over the river.

"What about Mia?" Jenna asked, turning to Isaac and standing in front of him. "I-it's fine if you tell me the truth… I just want to know so I know where to go from here."

"I… I like Mia." Isaac said. Mia felt her heartbeat quicken as he continued talking. "I like her, but I don't feel the same way with her as I did you… With you, I never wanted to be apart and I felt so strongly for you, but with Mia, it's different."

Mia's heart ached as she heard Isaac say this. "How is it different?" she heard Jenna ask quietly.

"It's hard to explain, but I feel the need to take it slower with her, but at the same time I don't want her to leave me… These past few weeks before we caught up to you have been hard for me… We had a problem and we grew apart, but my feelings have only grown stronger for her."

"It sounds like you love her…" Jenna said in a neutral voice, though there was a small quiver in it.

"I… maybe I do… but it doesn't matter; I think she has already moved on."

"I-I have to go, Isaac. I'll see you at the camp," Jenna said, beginning to walk past Isaac.

"Wait, Jenna," Isaac said, standing up quickly, "I still and will always care for you," he finished, closing the distance and giving Jenna a friendly hug. Jenna returned the embrace as she closed her eyes, trying to memorize the feeling of being in his arms, the pleasant sensation in the pit of her stomach that made her feel like she could fly and the aura of comfort she felt him project. She started a little when she felt him kiss her head lightly, "Never forget that."

Jenna nodded as she stepped back from the embrace and quickly walked away before she did something that might push Isaac away farther. Isaac sat back down on the grass before sprawling out and closing his eyes, relishing the feel of the earth below him and the sound of crickets and the river gently flowing in the background. He quickly sat us as he heard quiet footsteps rustle the grass.

"Mia?" he asked, looking kind of surprised.

"Hi Isaac, may I sit with you?" the Mercury adept asked, '_He must not have known I was here… But then why did he flare his aura before he spoke to Jenna?_'

"Sure," he said, laying back down and putting his hands behind his head to support it.

* * *

Jenna returned to the camp with a broken smile. Nobody asked what was wrong, and she preferred it that way. Her brother gave her some of the food they were saving and after eating, she turned in. '_Isaac…_' she thought, rolling over in her bed, '_I won't give up on you. What I feel for you is real, and I know you had to have felt something too._"

* * *

Mia sighed as she turned on her side and faced Isaac. She looked at the boy through the tall grass for a while before he looked over, his eyes alight with mirth.

"What?" he asked, grinning at her as she felt her cheeks flush lightly. Isaac chuckled at the look she gave him and she looked so cute he couldn't help himself as he gently moving a stray strand of azure hair from her face.

"I-it's nothing," Mia stammered, her face flushing even darker. "But… these past few weeks have been hard for you too?" she asked, grinning as Isaac in turn blushed, finding the grass interesting.

"Y-you heard that?" Mia smiled in response and Isaac only rolled back onto his back. "Isaac…"

Isaac frowned as he went over his conversation with Jenna in his head. He had tried to detect anybody else in the clearing with his aura, but he had only gotten back Jenna's aura. Suddenly, he felt a light weight on his chest, causing him to look down at Mia who was resting her head on his over his heart, looking back up at him.

"Isaac, it's okay… I… I like you too," Mia said, her face turning red again as she looked innocently up into Isaac's blue eyes, a small, hopeful smile gracing her angelic face. Isaac looked down at her in shock but then he smiled and wrapped his arm around her, giving her a gentle squeeze. Mia smiled wider and turned to look up at the crescent moon, a feeling or warmth spreading throughout her as she felt Isaac's hand move up to stroke her hair gently. She finally felt truly content and complete once again, something that she had been missing since that time on Babi's ship. Mia smiled as she snuggled into Isaac, taking in the beauty of their surroundings.

Hours later when the moon was overhead, Isaac once again looked down at the girl resting on his chest. She was sleeping peacefully now, her rosy lips parted slightly as she breathed. As he watched her, something sparkled and caught his eye. Looking down her neck, he saw the pendant he had given her at Xian, '_Mia, I'm sorry for pushing you away before… I'll make it up to you someday._' He promised as he gently removed her head from his chest and stood up. Gently taking the girl into his arms and cradling her body close to his, he carried her back to camp. Once there, he saw Garret lying down by the fire, "watching" the camp.

Isaac checked the tents and saw that arrangements had changed. With Felix as the leader, he had made the group pair up differently than usual. He had paired up Jenna and Sheba, Piers and Mia, and Garret and Isaac, leaving him with Ivan. Now that Isaac had become leader again, it appears that arrangements had changed. Now, Piers and Felix and Sheba and Jenna were together, leaving Isaac's group with their old setup. Someone had even moved Mia's stuff into his room while also moving out Garret's.

Isaac smiled. Even though it had been a little weird sharing a tent with Mia after their argument, he still enjoyed having her familiar aura present. It had been odd when Felix had demanded that they change rooming arrangements, but nobody else complained and he figured it would do him some good to get away from Mia for a while. Now, he was glad to have her back. He carefully ducked into their tent, gently placing her on his bed and taking off her boots before he prepared her own. After pulling the covers back and setting the pillow, he again picked her up and placed her back in her own bed, tucking her in. He quickly kissed her forehead before getting ready, but before he went to bed, he thought of something…

* * *

The next morning, everyone was gathered around the campfire, waiting for Isaac and Mia to wake up.

"How long do you think they were out?" Ivan asked as he stoked the fire.

"I know, midnight," Garret grumbled. Jenna heard this and frowned, looking down at her plate of food.

"How do you know?" Piers asked, turning to the red haired Mars adept. Garret grumbled some more. "What was that?"

"Something about Isaac, djinn and a prank," Ivan answered, a grin forming on his face.

"What was that about Isaac?" everyone turned towards the voice as Mia walked out of the tent.

"Nothing, but what were you two doing last night?" Ivan asked a mischievous grin on his face.

"N-nothing! We were just talking…" Mia stammered, suddenly finding the grass interesting.

"Oh? do tell," Sheba broke in, also grinning.

"Guys, stop it!" Mia said, her blush growing even redder.

"That bad, huh?"

"Okay guys, that's enough." Everyone stopped as they turned to Isaac who stood in front of their tent. "Let's all get something to eat, then we should get going." Everyone nodded as Mia took a seat on a nearby tree stump, trying to inconspicuously leave room for one other. The others watched and grinned in their heads, knowing what she was doing. They watched as Isaac approached the fire, waiting to see where he will decide to sit. There was one other place open next to Jenna which looked to have more space than Mia's stump, so they knew the obvious choice.

Isaac simply walked over and sat next to Mia on the stump, acting like it was the natural thing to do. Mia smiled and scooted a bit closer while pretending to adjust her skirt, but everyone knew something was up. Jenna stood up at this, walking out of the clearing and leaving her mostly finished breakfast plate where it was.

"I'll get her," Felix said, breaking the silence that had fallen on the group. Isaac nodded as Garret passed him two plates of food.

'_Today will be interesting…_' Isaac thought as he caught everyone staring at them again. Clearing his throat, everyone quickly pretended to be busy again as Isaac and Mia began eating breakfast, preparing themselves for their search for Magma Rock.

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A/N: Okay, so I couldn't resist it. I wanted a fluffy chapter and having Mia and Isaac at odds with each other is odd to me. I am not entirely sure on whether or not I should write something for Magma rock or not. I suppose I will replay that section in the game and see if anything pops out at me, but if not I am planning on doing something with the four bosses in the game, the Star Magician, Vulkar, Sentinel and of course, the series of about three chapters that I have semi-planned out on Dullahan, everybody's favorite headless suit of armor.


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